Wesley's Mulligan
by Hotpoint
Summary: Drop Wesley Wyndam-Pryce from AtS Season 5 into his own body in Season 3 BtVS then stand back and watch the fireworks!
1. Chapter 1

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

* * *

**Travelodge Hotel LAX – Los Angeles – March 8th 1999**

Wesley-Wyndam-Pryce returned to his hotel room after a light lunch. He had wisely decided it would not do at all to be arriving at Sunnydale with jetlag when meeting his new charges so a day spend recuperating from his long flight from Heathrow was very much the way to go. He wanted to appear well-rested, efficient and sharp when introducing himself to both the Summers girl and the reputably unruly Miss Lehane and this establishment was both reasonably priced and merely a stone's throw from the airport.

In the morning he world hire a suitable automobile and then make his way to Sunnydale but until then he would spend his time constructively he decided. There were still passages of the latest addition of the revised Slayer Handbook he had yet to commit to memory and his pocket copy of Bristow's Demon Index was always worth a leaf through he thought to himself as he unlocked his door and stepped inside his hotel room, the bounce in his step and the smile on his face immediately coming to an abrupt end when a hand holding what appeared to be a damp rag clamped itself over his face. "Chloroform" he realised as he sank swiftly into unconsciousness.

Waking up some time later, sat on the floor propped back against the bed and finding himself nauseas, bound and gagged Wesley wished he had taken his mother's advice to be more careful in America. His imagination began to run wild as he recalled hearing urban legends of unwary travellers having their kidney's surgically removed and he dearly hoped that the next time he woke up it wouldn't be lying naked in a bath full of ice-cubes.

'Don't bother struggling' a slightly gravely but strangely familiar voice with a fading clipped British accent spoke up from the small en-suite bathroom. 'We're much too good at tying knots after all those years in the Boy Scouts' it said as a figure stepped out rubbing its hands on a small towel which it carelessly threw back into the bathroom after finishing with it.

Almost petrified, Wesley stared and tried to say something but his voice was completely muffled by the gag. "Imposter" he thought, some kind of magic glamour or perhaps even a shape-changing demon he reasoned looking at his near-doppelganger. It wasn't hardly a perfect likeness however, his double looked years older, unkempt hair, world-worn with a couple of days stubble on his face and a shocking scar around his throat.

'I was originally just going to kill you and hide the body but it seemed a tad too cold-hearted even for me' the scarred duplicate of Wesley told the real one tied up on the floor. 'I'll still need rid of you permanently however which I'm afraid means you'll be going on a one-way trip to another reality' he continued apologetically. 'Don't worry, I'm fairly adept at opening mystical portals these days and I'll send you on your way with a survival kit, some basic weaponry and of course some reading material' he said. 'The collected works of Shakespeare, Tolstoy's War and Peace and a few other lengthy classics that'll help you while away the years' he went on. 'Oh, and I think you'll find the recipe book "1001 ways to cook shrimp" particularly useful' he added with a smile.

Wesley struggled against his bonds quickly finding it a futile effort. Yes those were very good knots he was forced to admit as he returned his attention to his captor who was now pacing the room.

'They were only supposed to send me back a few months' the other Wesley said, almost as if he was talking to himself, which he was of course in a way. 'And they call themselves wizards' he said bitterly. 'When I arrive I buy a newspaper and I'm back in the last century' he growled. 'Well at first I considered just laying low for a few years but that got boring fast let me tell you and then finally I thought, what the hell I might as well begin again from scratch, do it all right from day one' he said.

Clearly the ramblings of a madman, Wesley thought, trying to see if he could chew through his gag.

'Well after I made the decision everything really slid into place' the doppelganger said, nodding to himself. 'I made a few plans, re-established some old contacts, who had of course never actually met me before as far as they were concerned, and then waited for you to arrive so we could swap places as it were' he told the Wesley on the floor. 'I just can't pass for you perfectly in the physical sense any more though which would have been a bit of a bugger if I hadn't remembered about Draconian Katras' he continued, picking up an artefact which had been resting on a small chest of drawers. 'You get my body and I get yours, don't be too put-out though, this body is in rather better shape than yours despite a few more years and the odd scar, it's going to take me months to build up some decent muscle again' he observed. 'Oh and for the record you were going to be a bloody awful watcher' he stated before looking at the artefact again. 'Right then' he said brightly, 'let's get on with it shall we' he declared. 'I'll try and remember to send you a few more books and supplies every so often and I am sorry that you're mostly getting the raw end of the deal here' he apologised.

Wesley put all his strength into once again trying to loosen the ropes that tied him but failed just as miserably as before, this must be some kind of strange dream he considered. Perhaps I'm still sleeping fitfully on the plane to America and my mind is generating this bizarre scenario he wondered.

'I'll send most of your clothes with you' the other Wesley told him. 'My fashion sense has changed over the years' he said, opening the wardrobe where Wesley had carefully hung all of his suits and casting a disparaging look over them. 'I nearly forgot' he exclaimed suddenly. 'You'll find a copy of my journal amongst the items I'm sending you through the portal with, it'll answer most of your questions as to why it all came to this and I think you might enjoy the passage where I describe emptying an automatic pistol into father' he said with a chuckle as he went to retrieve the book of spells he had stolen from arch mage Cyvus Vail a few weeks ago. He had made sure to frame that other odious tosspot and sorcerer Greenway for the crime of course. 'Don't worry, portal travel looks far more dangerous than it really is' he told his younger more naive and probably saner self as he opened the book and started reading through the required incantations needed to carry out the rest of his plan.

He would head for Sunnydale this evening, he had a few things to deal with before meeting the slayers at the school tomorrow and there was no sense in wasting time.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

_I know Peggy Sue fanfics are hardly original (my Compelled stories are basically those at first) but Wesley Wyndam-Pryce from Series 5 Angel takes the place of his earlier self in Series 3 Buffy the Vampire Slayer... just think about it! I've got enough story sketched out for the first few parts which might end up being the entire Fic but if there is enough interest I may continue the tale, albeit intermittently._

___Wesley Wyndam-Pryce first appeared in BtVS episode 3.14 Bad Girls and he was a long way from becoming the man he was a few years later. Here we get to see how the most ruthless son-of-a-bitch in the Buffyverse does things if thrown back to a far less dark period of his life (although he was about as much use as a chocolate teapot)._

___Faith used a Draconian Katra left to her by Mayor Richard Wilkins to swap bodies with Buffy in BtVS episode 4.15 This Year's Girl. Here Wesley is using one to swap bodies with his earlier self before dumping the version of him who should be in 1999 through a portal to another dimension. Cyvus Vail was a sorceror with strong links to Wolfram & Hart and the Circle of the Black Thorn. Greenway was another sorcerer (and W&H client) who escaped justice in AtS episode 5.12 You're Welcome by ritually murdering five nuns as a means to open a portal to an alternate universe._  



	2. Chapter 2

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

* * *

**Mayor's Office – Sunnydale – March 8th 1999**

Richard Wilkins was sitting at his desk laughing at the newpaper funny pages as his vampire aide known as Mister Trick dropped the two swords in front of him. 'Check these out' the suave vampire advised as the Mayor offered them scant attention.

'I just love the Family Circus' Wilkins declared, still laughing. 'That P.J., he's getting to be quite a handful' he added before paying more notice of the finely crafted blades, putting the newspaper down on his desk next to the swords. 'Well... I haven't seen anything like this in, uh...' he said, looking over at his always nervous though suitably attentive Deputy Mayor Allan Finch. 'Well, a good long while' he continued before redirecting his attention towards the vampire once more. 'Where's the owner of these fine implements?' he asked.

'The common term is "slain". But I've been seeing this breed around' Trick replied. 'Are we expecting any trouble?' he queried.

Wilkins ignored the question. 'Do you like Family Circus?' he asked Trick instead.

'I like Marmaduke' Trick told him.

'Oh! Eww' Wilkin's responded with a shudder. 'He's always on the furniture' the Mayor said disparagingly. 'Unsanitary' he opined.

'Nobody can tell Marmaduke what to do' Trick noted. 'That's my kinda dog' he said with a smile.

'I like to read Cathy' Finch spoke up, the opinions of the other two on that neatly summed up by the fact they just looked at him. 'So, uh, what about these swords?' the Deputy Mayor asked nervously. 'What should we do about that?' he asked, trying to change the subject from his choice in cartoons.

'Well, let's just keep an eye out' Wilkins replied, checking out the swords more carefully. They were definitely the type carried by the El Eliminati cult loyal to that jerk Balthazar, he decided. 'We've got the dedication coming up in a few days' he continued. 'We certainly can't have anything interfering with that' he said seriously.

'Sorry to disappoint' a voice interrupted a split second before a crossbow bolt coming from the next room slammed into the chest of Mister Trick, turning him to dust immediately. As Wilkins spun in his chair and Finch yelped and dived for cover a man appeared with a now empty pistol crossbow in one hand and a still rather dangerous looking silenced automatic pistol in the other. 'If I'm right about the timing you aren't invulnerable yet' the stranger said in a British accent, pointing the automatic at Wilkins.

'What do you want?' Wilkins's asked, staring at the interloper while his ever-courageous Deputy cowered and whimpered.

'I want you to die' Wesley replied and shot him twice in the chest with his Beretta before planting another round right between his eyes, blowing the Mayor's brains out the hollow-point bullets getting the job done right. 'So much easier than last time' he said dispassionately as Wilkins slumped over his desk, his blood soaking into his newspaper. After working towards his goal of ascension for a century the Mayor had looked as much surprised and annoyed as he did scared before the first bullet went in. 'The best laid plans of mice and men go oft awry' Wesley quoted. 'If you're feeling hard-done-by you didn't go out all that much better as a gigantic snake either' he told the corpse.

Finch looked suitably petrified as Wesley now trained the pistol on him. 'Please don't' he pleaded.

'If you hadn't been knowingly working for a man in league with the forces of darkness I might have been more inclined towards mercy' Wesley responded flatly, 'but as it is you should at least draw some comfort from the fact this will be far quicker and hurt much less than a wooden stake being driven into your chest' he told Finch before giving him the same treatment as Wilkins received. The Deputy Mayor slumped to the floor, a puddle of his own blood forming around him ruining the tasteful and expensive carpeting.

Wesley looked around. 'Better to make sure' he said to himself before emptying the rest of the bullets in his pistol into the Mayor, the silencer ensuring it made little noise as he fired repeatedly. He had been careful to wear gloves whilst loading it so there were no fingerprints on the ejected brass and ballistics would have trouble tracing the gun because it hadn't actually been manufactured yet, if the investigation even got that far. 'My muscle-memory and reflexes are off' Wesley said to himself, slightly annoyed by the poor grouping of shots he had managed even at point-blank range 'I'd better sign up to a local gun-club and get myself back up to speed before I miss the mark completely' he decided.

'Right, what's next?' he asked himself, putting away his weapons. 'Oh right, I had a table booked at that little out-of-the-way restaurant' he remembered, turning to leave. As he left he wondered what the Sunnydale Police Department would make of all the occult literature and bric-a-brac they would find when they searched the Mayor's office for clues. They'd probably cover it all up like normal he reasoned after a short deliberation, it was amazing what could happen in this town without causing a ruckus he knew.

If I'd arrived a few years earlier I could have dealt with that prick Seidel before he sent Fred to Pylea, Wesley thought later as he enjoyed his bouillabaisse in the French Restaurant that was almost hidden in a back alley. Once he had Faith and Buffy properly trained up he intended to retrieve the book containing the spell needed to open a portal to the hell dimension and lead the slayers through on a rescue mission. At least he knew Fred would still be fine there for now, if living the life of a runaway slave. The butterfly effects of the changes he was making to this timeline would be extremely unlikely to reach the Pylea any time soon so he didn't have to run the risk of rushing things and making a whole new set of mistakes.

Wesley put down his spoon and reached for his glass of white wine, it was a little drier than he would have preferred but for Sunnydale this was as good a dining experience as could be found and the chef if not the waiter who had served him was actually French. Wesley had considered arriving in Sunnydale a little earlier and putting a few bullets into that traitor Gwendolyn Post before she caused any grief but her appearance hadn't really caused any serious log-term problems, he had decided after considering the matter, so why not let her enjoy her brief moment of glory then suffer her crushing failure as had happened before.

Somewhere in the multiverse the other Wesley Wyndam-Pryce was now stranded on a desert island with very little to eat but a vast ocean full of assorted shrimp. It was unlikely he was enjoying his seafood dining experience quite as much the Wesley enjoying his fish stew in Sunnydale was but unfortunately fate was as moral as a hurricane as a certain blue-haired demon with a penchant for extremely amoral philosophy would have put it Wesley contemplated as he put down his wine glass again and returned his attention to the bouillabaisse.

The next day Buffy didn't know why Giles had asked Willow to pass on the message she should come to the library and she was none the wiser when she found him there talking to a younger man wearing jeans, timberland boots and a worn-in brown leather jacket. Even when she heard the strangers accent she certainly wasn't thinking "Watcher" which was why she looked so surprised when Giles introduced him as such. When she had left her friends they had been talking about the murder of both the Mayor and Deputy Mayor which had occurred the night before and was all over the press. The rumour was that it was a gangland hit with all the hallmarks of a professional assassination according to leaks from the less than professional Sunnydale PD. There was talk of corruption in high places and conspiracy theories regarding the ever depressed land values in the area being somehow involved, maybe the Mayor had been taking kickbacks and had crossed the wrong people?

'Wesley Wyndam-Pryce' the new arrival said, holding out his hand to her. 'You must be Buffy Summers' he added, smiling.

Buffy looked at the hand suspiciously. 'Is he evil' she asked Giles.

'Appearances to the contrary it seems not' Giles replied. He had been hoping the new watcher the council would send wouldn't be totally repressed and hidebound by tradition given the nature of their charges but he had at least expected them to be wearing a suit and having bothered to shave.

'He looks evil' Buffy stated, checking out the new watcher more carefully, there was a vibe about him that was strangely unsettling too.

'Looks can be deceiving so I'd caution you not to judge by appearances' Wesley advised. 'I believe Gwendolyn Post had you completely fooled and from what I can recall of meeting her back in London on occasion she was a neat-freak to the point of OCD' he recalled.

Narrowing her eyes Buffy turned back to Giles. 'He talks funny' she said, 'by which I mean he says things like "neat-freak" instead of something British' she noted, increasingly suspicious of the stranger.

'Perhaps I should have made an effort to fit in with your expectations and accused the late Mrs Post of being fastidious and tidy to the point of absurdity instead?' Wesley suggested.

'Now you see, _that_ I could have handled' Buffy told him. 'You've checked this guy out with the Council right?' she asked Giles.

'I have' Giles confirmed, 'his credentials are impeccable, if not his wardrobe' he said, casting another disapproving look at the younger man's attire. 'The only point of contention was that they told me Wesley Wyndam-Pryce wore glasses but that was cleared up when he took his contact lenses out to show me' he said.

'They're more convenient' Wesley said, 'I've only just started using them however after many years of wasting much of my day polishing spectacles' he said, noting that Giles was doing that very thing right that moment having just taken them off. 'So can you let me know what happened on last night's patrol?' he asked the slayer.

Buffy looked to Giles to get confirmation she should answer, after it was given with a nod she turned back to Wesley. 'Vampires' she said simply.

'Could you give me any more details?' Wesley requested, entirely redundantly as it happened as he had been there watching from a distance, out-of-sight of the girls. After they had staked the opposition and Mister Trick, who had also been watching, had snatched up the swords he had tailed Trick back to the Mayor's office and then seized the opportunity to deal with the situation before it escalated.

'Killed 'em' Buffy added.

Wesley sighed, he had better play along. 'Anything else?' he asked.

'Swords, one of them had swords' Buffy remembered.

'A vampire with swords' Wesley responded, as if thinking. 'One long, one short?' he queried. 'Jewel encrusted?'

'Yes' Buffy confirmed, surprised he had possibly known that.

'El Eliminati' Wesley said confidently, '15th Century vampire duelling cult that cecame acolytes of a powerful demon named Balthalzar' he said. 'He led them from Europe to the New World and they set themselves up right here which is why I thought of them' he explained. 'You'll likely find a reference to them in your books if you want to know more' he told Giles. 'A century ago they were driven out of the region and it's believed Balthalzar was killed at that time although naturally we shouldn't be completely trusting of what's written in unreliable dusty old tomes.'

Buffy raised her eyebrows. 'Have they like radically changed what they teach at Watcher School since you went there?' she asked Giles.

'Seemingly' Giles replied, unreliable dusty old tomes indeed he thought, resisting the urge to scowl.

'From what I read of Balthalzar he possessed an Amulet that was purported to give him great strength' Wesley told them. 'Upon his death it came into the possession of a wealthy landowner named Gleaves who was buried with it' he continued. 'I'd theorise that the Eliminati are trying to recover it, perhaps for sentimental value' he reasoned.

'And you think this amulet might represent a threat?' Giles asked.

'Not unless the rumours of Balthalzar's demise have been greatly exaggerated, which is possible I suppose' Wesley replied. 'In any case it's probably best if Buffy and Faith recover it first' he said. 'I also think I should get to see them in action so I'll tag along tonight when they go to fetch it from the Gleaves Tomb' he said.

'Are you sure you want to come along?' Buffy asked, 'I mean vampires with swords, could be risky' she pointed out.

'I think you'll find me to be a hardy combatant who can cope with a few of the undead armed with antiquated weaponry if things turn rough' Wesley replied confidently.

Buffy sighed, he was going to get a rude awakening living on the hellmouth she thought as footsteps heralded the appearance of the other slayer.

'Ah. This is perhaps Faith?' Wesley asked as she approached with a quizzical expression on her face.

'Who's this?' Faith asked.

'New Watcher' Buffy explained.

Faith looked Wesley up and down. 'Really?' she asked doubtfully, if I met him in a bar I might considering screwing that she thought, neat threads she decided. Probably a fucking wimp under them though she expected.

'Yes really' Giles confirmed.

Faith shrugged. 'Okay what's your story?' she asked Wesley. 'I mean I've known a few watchers and you'd stand out in a line-up' she told him.

'You might have more experience of being put in a police line-up than me Miss Lehane' Wesley replied sardonically, 'but I guess we'll have to get to know each other better later on tonight when I find out how well you've retained your training' he said.

'Tonight?' Faith queried, looking to Buffy.

'Our new watcher has already given us our orders for this evening' Buffy explained.

'Orders?' Faith responded with a dismissive snort.

'I just want you to indulge in a spot of grave robbing and slay any vampires you run into doing it, you'll love it I'm sure' Wesley told her with a chuckle.

'You know whenever Giles sends us on a mission he says please and if we do well he gives us both a cookie' Buffy told the new watcher sarcastically.

Wesley frowned. 'Okay, but if you decide you'd rather have a beer instead like I plan to do afterwards just let me know' he replied.

'The legal age to drink in this country is twenty-one' Giles protested.

'Well if either of you haven't got good quality fake ID's yet let me know and I'll see what my contacts in LA can rustle up' Wesley told the slayers who were both now staring at him incredulously.

'I like him' Faith told Buffy.

'I think he's evil' Buffy replied.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

___Mayor Richard Wilkins, the future snake demon Olivkan (in the original timeline anyway) had run Sunnydale since it was founded. He was immortal but would only become invulnerable in the last hundred days before his ascension. Wesley blew his brains out just before this was about to happen (it did so in canon later on in the same episode where he was enthusing about The Family Circus). If you're wondering about the relative ease with which Wesley got into the Mayor's Office one of the vampiric El Eliminati dueling cult serving the demon Balthazar (long-time foe of Wilkins) managed it too, just with less success._

_Mister Trick was an unusually sophisticated and intelligent vampire that worked for Kakistos and later Mayor Wilkins. When the El Eliminati assassin failed to kill Wilkins in episode 3.14 Bad Girls Trick quipped that he should have bought an Uzi instead of swords, Wesley did perfectly well with a silenced Beretta though)._

___Sunnydale Deputy Mayor (and Wilkins lackey) Allan Finch was accidentally killed by Faith during Bad Girls. Wesley might have been loathe to kill his earlier self but I doubt Finch would have been treated so mercifully._

___Reviews are always appreciated. _:-)


	3. Chapter 3

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

* * *

**Gleaves Family Crypt – Cemetery – March 10th 1999**

Annoyed that Faith hadn't bothered to turn up yet, not to mention what she could only assume was the worlds most unkempt watcher, Buffy was about to force open the crypt and go inside to look for the Amulet when a polite cough caught her attention and she span around to find Wesley casually leaning back against another tomb. 'Given the lack of an alternate means to get back out is it really that wise to go in there alone?' he asked.

'_Not_ my first experience of Tomb Raiding' Buffy replied tersely. 'I know what I'm doing' she declared.

'Really?' Wesley responded doubtfully. 'And what would you have done if the half-dozen vampires who just appeared over your right shoulder had followed you in?' he asked. 'Hidden in one of the coffins perhaps?'

Buffy's eyes widened and she slowly turned around finding six members of the El Eliminati cult stood there armed with swords. 'EEP!' she exclaimed as they glared at her.

'Slayer' one said, baring his fangs.

'Well let's hope for their sake that their swords are as sharp as their wits' Wesley observed before looking at his watch and frowning. 'Where the bloody hell is Faith?' he asked. 'I'm going to be having some crossed words with that girl.'

'Wesley, our problem right now is swords and specifically that we don't have any to cross with them' Buffy told him slowly, eyes darting around for an escape route.

'You may have a point' Wesley conceded, still leaning back against the tomb. 'Challenge one of them to single combat' he advised.

'_What_?' Buffy replied.

'They're a duelling cult, they have a sense of honour' Wesley explained patiently. 'Challenge one of them to single-combat' he told her again. 'You must excuse my companion' he apologised to the El Eliminati,' no idea of the correct protocols.'

The one Wesley guessed was the leader turned to his fellows. 'A duel with the slayer' he said, 'just think of it' he said with obvious relish at the notion. 'I will fight her' he declared proudly.

'I don't have a sword Wesley' Buffy reminded him, this was nucking futs she thought to herself.

'Yes' Wesley agreed. 'Could we impose and ask to borrow a blade?' he requested of the vampires.

'She can use mine' one responded after a few seconds thought, throwing his two swords down in front of Buffy.

'There you go' Wesley told Buffy. 'Do you mind giving her the chance to test the weights and balance before you start?' he asked the vampire duelist who had stepped forward from his fellows.

'Go ahead' the vampire conceded, there was no true victory without honour he thought.

'I suggest you do pick them up and take a few practice swings' Wesley advised Buffy.

Buffy blinked. 'These guys are about four centuries worth of sword-fighting practice up on me you know' she told the watcher as she gingerly bent down and picked up the two swords she had been thrown. The shorter was obviously meant for her left hand.

'I'm sure Mr Giles has at least instructed you with the basics of fencing' Wesley replied nonchalantly, 'between that and your finely honed slayer instincts I'm sure you'll do very well' he said confidently. 'And if not I've always got Faith' he added, trying not to laugh.

'You could have just helped fight them' Buffy pointed out indignantly, swishing the longer sword through the air, the vampires spreading themselves out into a rough semi-circle to watch the duel.

'Ah but I've turned what was six against two into an even match' Wesley replied.

'Enough talk, let's get on with it' the lead vampire snarled, brandishing his sword at Buffy.

'More importantly one of the bloody idiots has disarmed himself as he armed you and Faith is now about to change the odds to three of us against four armed and one unarmed vampire opponent' he added as Faith slammed her stake into the back of one of the Eliminati who was still carrying his swords, pulling free one of them from its scabbard just before he exploded into dust.

'You have no honour' the lead vampire snarled at Wesley as the others drew their swords to face their human foes, Faith grinning as she held her shiny new sword in one hand and the stake in the other.

'None whatsoever' Wesley agreed.

'And no blade' the vampire added with a smirk made all the more vicious by his fangs.

Wesley stepped forward to stand beside Buffy. 'Well _that_ isn't true' he replied, holding out his right arm and activating the hidden mechanism he was wearing on his forearm under his jacket sleeve.

Buffy tried not to gape as some kind of gadget deployed from the watchers arm becoming a decent sized sword. 'Who are you?' she asked. 'James Bond?'

'Not lucky enough at the card table' Wesley replied, the women in his life tended to be about as lucky though, which was to say the mortality rate was disturbingly high.

A short-lived standoff ended abruptly when Faith attacked the nearest vampire to her and then two more with swords charged Buffy leaving Wesley to face their leader. The Eliminati member who had given up his swords to Buffy looked unimaginably aggrieved but stayed back for now as his brothers took up the fight.

While the girls used their natural slayer speed and strength to compensate for their relative lack of experience in sword-fighting Wesley faced off with the leader, presenting him with an ironic salute before adopting an en-garde stance. 'I will kill you slowly' the vampire vowed.

Wesley frowned. The vampire was likely a far superior swordsman and also surpassed him in strength and speed, with his reactions and timing still off too this was _not_ a wise combat to try and engage in. 'Oh bugger it' he said and reaching into his jacket drew one of his colt automatics and promptly shot the vampire in the kneecap.

The report of the gunshot startled everyone that wasn't Wesley and the slayers and other vampires stopped fighting and stared as the duellist he had kneecapped stumbled for a moment right before Wesley raised his aim and shot him in the head.

Bullets can't kill vampires but although they do recover quickly from the wounds inflicted by them it still hurts to get shot. Moreover they can't exactly shrug off a .45 calibre round going through the front of their cranium and exiting out the back along with a messy mix of skull fragments and brain matter. If nothing else, to describe the vampire as stunned and temporarily incapacitated was a severe understatement as the swords fell from its hands and it nearly collapsed.

Wesley darted forward and neatly decapitated the vampire with his collapsible sword. 'Nobody said to stop fighting' he said loudly, the short lull in the sword-play almost immediately coming to an end as the slayers and remaining vampires started fighting to the death once more.

'Bloody sound could have carried for miles' Wesley muttered to himself, putting away his pistol again. That was the problem with firearms, they weren't exactly low-key and could caused questions to be asked.

While the sword of metal clanging off metal echoed off the stone crypts and tombs of the cemetery Wesley spotted the brass casings that his pistol had ejected and bent down to scoop them up just as Buffy ran through one of her opponents, putting him out of action for a few moments at least as she withdrew the sword and enabling her to concentrate on the other vampire she was fighting.

Faith and Buffy both managed to decapitate their respective opponents almost simultaneously after inflicting several wounds leaving them with one armed and one unarmed opponent.

'Tell Balthazar' the armed one said, the injury caused by being run through earlier already starting to heal. 'I will hold them off' he said, making ready to fight both slayers to allow his Eliminati brother to escape and explain to their master what had transpired.

Pocketing the empty bullet casing and activating the mechanism on his wrist again to fold the sword back into place Wesley watched the vampire get ready to flee, his sense of honour made abandoning his comrade in battle very difficult and he was clearly dithering as he tried to decide what to do 'We need one intact to question' Wesley called out.

'Busy here' Buffy called back as both she and Faith tried to finish off the other vampire quickly.

The unarmed vampire turned and started to run. 'I'm not in a mood to play chase right across this graveyard' Wesley said coldly and raising his left arm he fired a small high-velocity grapnel from another device that trailed a metal cable as it hurtled through the air and punched right through the vampires back, spearing him and knocking him to the ground.

The harpooned vampire stared down in disbelief at the bloody metal now protruding from his stomach and tried to get back up, balance uncertain enough that a sharp tug on the cable still connecting them by Wesley made him stagger again.

Dusting the vampire they had been fighting Faith and Buffy turned and found their new watcher walking towards the last remaining one almost as if he was reeling him in. 'Could one of you please subdue that thing before he recovers, runs off and drags me along for the ride' Wesley requested wryly.

'Okay' Faith replied slowly, giving the Englishman a strange look before trotting over towards the vampire.

Buffy was even more shocked and surprised but she tried to hide it. 'What the hell was all that?' she asked Wesley as Faith dropped her sword and started repeatedly punching the vampire in the face to get it to stop trying to get up and away.

'I believe the term is "slaying" if I recall the Handbook correctly' Wesley replied, pulling back his jacket sleeve to expose the device which had fired the grapnel. 'Faith would you mind unhooking the grapnel so I can wind the cable in?' he requested, not wanting to remain tethered to the vampire.

As Faith looked at it and tried to figure out how Buffy confronted Wesley, swords still in hand. 'Are you crazy?' she asked.

'No' Wesley replied, 'I'm just introducing a few new methods to what has become a very conservative and staid way of doing things' he replied. 'The industrial revolution just passed the Watchers Council and their slayers by' he said. 'I think it's time to bring the slaying business kicking, screaming and bleeding into the Twenty-First Century' he said. 'I mean Twentieth' he corrected himself remembering it was only 1999.

'This is not some kind of experimental trial' Buffy exclaimed. 'You can't spring your pet theories on us' she complained.

'So you don't want one of these collapsible swords?' Wesley asked, deploying it again from his right arm.

Buffy opened her mouth about to reply one way then stopped and thought again. 'At no point did I criticise the collapsible sword if that's what you call it' she said, want, want, want, she thought covetously whilst considering outfits that she could wear that would both conceal it and remain stylish.

'I do apologise about the gun incidentally, I only carried it as a precaution' Wesley told her, trying to sound contrite because he was now concerned that he might be trying to push things too hard and too fast and that wasn't the plan. 'Perhaps I panicked' he lied.

Buffy sighed. 'Okay, you _are_ new to this I guess' she replied. 'I don't like guns' she told him. 'I didn't think you Brits were into those anyway?' she queried.

'It seemed a wise precaution to obtain one given that I read reports that vampires here occasionally carry them' Wesley replied. 'If I remember correctly Rupert Giles documented that the vampire Darla once tried to kill you with a pair of pistols?' he asked.

'Tried and failed' Buffy replied, 'guns aren't for the good' she stated firmly.

'I'll try and remember' Wesley replied, if he was playing this right she would now be thinking he was just making rookie mistakes and he could work her around to a new way of doing things before they came to an impasse. Use of firearms would likely be a major sticking point in the future he considered, better to gradually ease the slayer into the notion that they were just another tool, like a latter-day crossbow but much more compact and convenient for putting in a fashionable handbag.

Buffy looked at her new watcher, not that anyone could replace Giles. 'You weren't scared and I guess it was kinda clever how you messed with those vamps' he told him. 'First night out I guess you did okay' she conceded, she had been angry but that was fading fast.

'Thanks' Wesley replied, feigning a proud little smile like she had patted him on the head and told him well-done. 'We'd better see if the amulet is in there' he told her. Chances were he would take some grief from Giles for tonight's escapades after Buffy reported back to him but Wesley was prepared to look chastened and sound apologetic.

'I'll go look to the thing' Buffy replied, heading back towards the Gleaves Family Crypt.

'Very good' Wesley told her. 'I'll help Faith with our prisoner' he added. He already knew where Balthazar was of course from last time but it would be better if it seemed like he got the knowledge from the Eliminati captive. Also it would give him an opportunity to teach Faith how to use Holy Water to torture information out of even the most stubborn and committed vampire.

Wesley didn't think Buffy would have the stomach to learn how to take things to the next level yet but the way Faith had fallen under Mayor Wilkins patronage the first time around indicated she was just ripe for moulding into someone very useful he knew. 'Well done Faith' he praised her, smiling. 'You adapted to the situation very well when you arrived and saw what was happening' he said.

'Thanks' Faith replied beaming back at him. 'You've got some nice tricky moves yourself' she said with some small measure of admiration.

'You were still late though' Wesley chided. 'Buffy or myself could have been in trouble you know.'

'Yeah sorry about that' Faith apologised. 'I'll try and get there on time in future' she promised. 'So I'm guessing no free beer on the watcher expense account tonight?' she joked.

'No' Wesley replied. 'But improve the timekeeping and we'll see for next time' he told her.

'Okay Boss, sounds fair' Faith responded.

'Forget calling me Boss' Wesley replied, 'Just Wes is fine' he told her.

'Wes it is' Faith agreed, smiling again before looking guilty. 'I think I bent your harpoon thingy trying to get the cable off it' she admitted.

Wesley sighed. 'Slayers' he said, shaking his head sadly. 'They don't know their own strength' he complained.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

_The El Eliminati were a duelling cult with a sense of honour, that's always something you can screw with! __Wesley's Collapsible Sword was probably his best gadget but the mini-grapnel gun he used in Angel episode 4.22 Home comes close._


	4. Chapter 4

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

* * *

******Library – Sunnydale High – March 11th 1999**

When Buffy reached the library she found Faith already there, moping and half-heartedly reading a magazine as she leaned back against some bookshelves. 'What's up?' she asked.

'I was on my way to try and pull you out of chemistry class and go clear up vamp nest I found when Wes caught me' Faith replied.

'Did you get told off or something?' Buffy asked, trying not to laugh.

'Yeah' Faith confirmed.

Buffy smiled. 'Don't worry about it, Giles does that to me all the time' she told the other slayer.

'I bet you don't end up learning new swearwords when the G-Man does it' Faith responded, 'I thought I already knew them all but damn if that skinny English guy doesn't have a mouth on him if you talk back.'

'No, mostly Giles doesn't swear he just gives me a disapproving look and makes me feel like I'm like six years old and got caught with my hand in the cookie jar' Buffy told her. 'So what did the next generation of watcher say to you anyway?' she asked. 'By which I don't mean repeat the bad language' she added.

'He said your classes were important so I shouldn't encourage you to skip school but his bigger beef was that I didn't come tell him about the nest' Faith replied.

'Ah, watcher control freakery' Buffy observed, 'nice to know there's some continuity between Giles and the new guy' she said. 'So where are they?' she asked.

'If you can believe this they're in Giles's office drinking tea' Faith told her.

'Not too difficult a sell' Buffy replied. 'Is the door shut for a reason?' she queried.

'I think Giles is giving Wes the same treatment he gave me about the shit he pulled last night at the cemetery' Faith theorised. 'G looked kinda pissed.'

Buffy moved over to Giles's desk and took a seat on top of it. 'Wesley is certainly... different' Buffy commented. 'Not what I expected at all.'

'Diana, my first watcher I mean, was okay' Faith said, remembering her. 'I miss her' she admitted.

'I miss Merrick my first watcher too sometimes' Buffy replied. 'He cared about me as a person not just as a slayer, I guess the good ones do' she supposed.

'Vamp got him right?' Faith asked.

'Yes' Buffy confirmed sadly. 'He was a little kooky but once I got to know him I liked him' she recalled, now smiling as she thought about how out of his depth Merrick had been with her at first.

'So wanna go dust some bloodsuckers for our dead watchers?' Faith asked, straightening up.

'Sure' Buffy replied, 'after the live ones give us the go-ahead' she added.

'Hey that's the plan because judging from the look in Wes's eyes when he was snarling at me if I piss him off any more today he'll shoot me or something' Faith replied.

Buffy nodded and looked thoughtful. 'He does have this vibe that reminds me of the dangerous animals at the zoo' she said.

'Maybe his apartment is a cage with a "Do not feed the Watcher" sign on it?' Faith joked.

'No, I'm just naturally lean' Wesley interrupted, having quietly opened the door to the librarian's office. As a matter of fact he had already signed with a gym intending on bulking up because at the moment he wasn't in very good condition to do the job as effectively as it warranted. In cardiovascular terms he was in reasonable shape but lacking the advantage of the demonic energy which powered slayers if he wanted to be able to inflict a worthwhile punch on a vampire he was going to have to hit the free weights first.

'Hey Wesley' Buffy greeted him. 'Faith says she found a vampire nest' she noted. 'Want us to go get big with the stakeage?' she checked.

'In preference to hearing you mangle the Queen's English any more the answer would be yes' Wesley replied. 'Do try not to get injured' he requested.

'Is that concern for our well-being?' Buffy asked in mock surprise.

'Partially, but you both already know I need you in tip-top condition for the visit I intend on Balthazar and his remaining cronies tonight' Wesley replied.

Faith laughed. 'That was some cold-hearted shit you did to that vamp to make him talk last night Wes' she stated.

'For future reference red hot iron pokers would work faster but they require more preparation time than Holy Water' Wesley advised. The El Eliminati vampire had been begging to be staked by the end of the impromptu interrogation, any loyalty he had felt to the demon he followed having washed away along with a fair quantity of his scalded flesh.

The door to the library opened and everyone stopped talking just in case it was regular people. It was only Xander and Willow however so they all relaxed, except for Wesley who had to pretend for the sake of appearances that he had never met them before, which was true in one sense of course.

'Hey Will, Xander' Buffy greeted them. 'Recovered from the Chemistry Test yet?' she asked.

'I've been trying to suppress that and thanks for reminding me' Xander replied with a shudder. 'You weren't kidding about Wesley from Watcher-Trek the Next Generation being a little different from the original series' he said, looking the new guy in the brown leather jacket over.

Wesley frowned. 'Also for my _own_ future reference exactly _how many_ people in this town are fully aware of your after-school activities and also apparently my supposedly secret vocation?' he asked Buffy.

'Not too many' Buffy replied, 'I'll write you out a list but it's not too long, honest' she told him.

'I'm Willow' the redhead introduced herself brightly. 'This is Xander' she continued indicating her male companion. 'You must be Wesley.'

Giles had also now emerged from his office and Wesley turned to him with a quizzical expression that contained within it a look of disapproval. 'It wasn't my idea to involve her friends in her work' Giles defended himself.

Wesley sighed. 'Wesley Wyndam-Price' he told Willow and Xander.

'The last name is hyphenated' Buffy informed them.

'It's me and Chow Yun-Fat' Wesley quipped, for that matter they were both good at leaping sideways firing a dual pair of pistols too now he came to think about it. 'I hope you don't ever allow these civilians to accompany you on your missions?' he asked Buffy.

'They've been known to tag along' Buffy admitted.

'Not my idea either but to be fair they have proven quite useful in the past' Giles spoke up, 'and I doubt we would have done as well as we have in keeping a lid on the Hellmouth without their contribution' he said.

'Aw shucks' Xander responded, feigning embarrassment at the praise.

'So have you been training them?' Wesley inquired, knowing the answer already of course.

Giles pursed his lips. 'Well no but...'

Wesley fixed Xander with a stare and approached him. 'Please take a swing at me' he requested.

'What?' Xander asked, nonplussed.

'Hit me' Wesley told him.

'No' Xander protested.

'If you don't, I'm going to hit _you_ ' Wesley told him forcefully.

'What the hell?' Buffy exclaimed, getting ready to intervene.

'Do it' Wesley snarled looking like he was about to punch Xander in the face.

As Willow looked horrified Xander panicked and tried to strike out first, his fist was barely on its way when Wesley seemed to grab his arm, twist and force it down dropping him to his knees in one fluid movement and then when he looked like he was about to smash the teenagers face in with a vicious blow Wesley pulled the punch and tweaked his nose instead. 'Meep' the watcher said, chuckling at the boy's expression before helping Xander back up. 'I'm surprised he hasn't got killed out there' the watcher said, turning back to the others.

'What was _that_ supposed to be?' Buffy demanded to know.

'A very quick test of his unarmed combat abilities in an engagement that began without warning' Wesley replied. 'Look at it this way, I'll bet it put that Chemistry Exam into perspective' he observed, chuckling again. 'Xander is it?' he asked the boy, who nodded as he rubbed his arm. 'I suggest you either take up an applicable martial art, jujitsu for example, or else find a safer hobby' he advised.

'You hurt him' Willow exclaimed.

'Only a little and to prove a point' Wesley replied. 'It would have taken me hours to try and achieve the same result through talking' he said to Buffy who was glaring at him. 'If you truly believe he's an asset then you should have made sure he was better able to look after himself' the watcher stated, 'both of you' he continued, including Giles in that as he re-directed his gaze on the older man.

'I do alright' Xander said, the feeling returning to his arm.

'Even slayers die eventually, it's just a matter of time and quite a lot of luck is involved too' Wesley told him. 'You can't beat out the odds forever but you can tweak them in your favour and that's why slayers train too' he said. 'I imagine I'm going to have to give the same lecture to your friends as well at some point?' he asked Faith.

'Haven't really got any' Faith replied honestly.

'Sad for you, better for me' Wesley responded.

Buffy stormed over to the new watcher and then regretted getting so close because he was a lot taller than she was. 'What you did to Xander was out of line Wesley' she told him indignantly.

'I'll forgive him if he shows me how the hell he did it' Xander interjected, it had all occurred so fast he couldn't quite see how it had happened.

'Fine but don't take that as me offering to teach you anything else' Wesley replied, still looking down at Buffy. She could break him in half easily but his expression was hardly nervous. It wasn't that he looked like he was deluded enough to think he would stand a chance if they came to blows, it was more like he didn't care.

'That's enough B' Faith told the other slayer. 'Wes knows you're pissed' she said wondering if she was going to have to stop Buffy manhandling the new guy.

'One of the reasons for that is because now she's got a little voice in the back of her head nagging at her that maybe she should have encouraged her friend to train' Wesley responded. 'Am I right?' he asked with a wry smile.

'Don't try and be too clever Wesley' Giles chided, 'you've made your point' he said.

'I hope so' Wesley replied, 'so after years of nothing but good-cop watcher how are you finding the bad-cop one so far?' he asked Buffy with a modicum of amusement evident in his tone.

Buffy's eyes widened. 'You're playing me!' she exclaimed. 'Pushing my buttons to see what I do' she realised.

'Not just yours' Wesley told her. 'Think of me as the revolution come to overthrow the Ancien Régime before you become as set in your ways as the old men in the Watcher's Council' he said.

'This is one weird and scary guy' Xander told Willow quietly.

'I don't like people playing mind-games with me' Buffy told Wesley seriously. 'I don;t like being manipulated either so don't try it' she warned.

'I just want you to start thinking out of the box' Wesley replied, 'I mean you don't think in the tiny box the Council dwells in but you've still trapped yourself in a larger one as far as I can see after only a short while dealing with you' he said. 'Faith is more of a blank slate of course.'

Faith opened her mouth to respond but then realised that she wasn't sure if that was a criticism or a complement so instead she turned to Giles. 'Do we need to break this up?' she asked.

'I don't think so' Giles replied, he was intrigued himself at the development.

'So hey, all friends here' Willow piped up nervously, trying to diffuse the situation as she tended to in such occasions.

'That remains to be seen' Buffy responded guardedly, backing away from Wesley. At least she now thought she had found out why her instincts had been telling her something was off about the new watcher, he had been testing her reactions to situations like with the El Eliminati, probably finding out if the file the Council certainly had on her told the real story. Watchers could be ruthless and calculating enough to do this kind of thing she knew, the Cruciamentum had demonstrated that.

Wesley looked at his watch. 'Daylight is ticking away and you still have that nest of vampires to slay before this evenings festivities' he reminded Buffy.

Buffy narrowed her eyes at him. 'Come on Faith, get your stake we've got a job to do' she said before heading off. 'We'll talk later' she told Xander and Willow.

After everyone else had left a few minutes later Wesley remained behind, it just being himself and Giles in the Library now. 'I think this is the moment where you tell me that if any harm befalls Buffy which is my fault then you'll kill me?' Wesley asked the older watcher.

'Something like that' Giles replied evenly. 'Don't underestimate her intelligence either' he advised.

'You know Quentin Travers put a note on her file that said you loved her like a father' Wesley told him. 'Sweet I suppose but I've got to agree with him that it's not advantageous to the mission' he said.

'The needs of the many outweighing the needs of the Chosen One' Giles responded. 'Nice theory but it's hard to think that way when the latter is a living, breathing young girl who should have her whole life ahead of her but will most likely be dead in an alley drained of blood before she's twenty-five.'

'Happens that way to every slayer eventually, always has, always will' Wesley replied, 'which is one reason that you as much as anyone should support the idea of beginning anew' he continued. 'It's nearly the Twenty-First century, we've got two slayers who are hardly the traditional types themselves. We can throw all the old methods and certainties out the window if we want to.'

Giles smiled. 'You know a conservative is someone that wants to continue the old mistakes and a radical is someone that wants to embrace a whole new set of mistakes' he noted. 'There's nothing truly new under the sun anyway' he opined.

Wesley laughed then adopted a mischievous look as to Gile's surprise he began to sing.

_The word is about, there's something evolving  
Whatever may come, the world keeps revolving  
They say the next big thing is here  
That the revolution's near  
But to me it seems quite clear  
That it's all just a little bit  
of history repeating_**  
**

* * *

_**Note from the Author:**_

___Wesley pulled a similar move to the one he did on Xander in AtS episode 3.15 Loyalty except that in that case his attempted assailant ending up lying on the floor, disabled and choking for breath. The Scoobies never did train much (if at all) considering the situations they found themselves in, Wesley just made that point... strongly._

___Keeping the slayers off-balance is part of the reason for Wesley's behaviour, the other reason is that he's far from one-hundred percent stable! The Crucimentum test on Buffy's 18th Birthday was featured in BtVS episode 3.12 Helpless. Between that and the problem with Gwendolyn Post in BtVS episode 3.7 Revelations Buffy is going to be naturally wary and suspicious of Watchers generally!_  



	5. Chapter 5

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

* * *

**Packing Warehouse – Devereau Road – March 12th 1999**

After she and Faith scouted the outside of the building as best they could in the dark Buffy found a crack in the main dooway of the dilapidated warehouse and peeked in. 'Okay, we've got ten maybe twelve bad guys and one big demon badly in need of a stairmaster' she whispered to Faith.

'I say we take 'em all, hard and fast and now' Faith replied decisively.

'This is your job not your love-life' an increasingly familiar voice interrupted from the shadows nearby. 'While it's nice to see you both here when I asked you to be I do hope you weren't intending to try and deal with Balthazar and the remaining El Eliminati without a little more planning and perhaps some assistance?' he asked.

'Hey Wes' Faith greeted him, letting the crack about her love-life slide.

'Wesley' Buffy added, considerably less enthusiasm at his presence evident in her voice. He was carrying a large canvas bag and she was wondering what was in it, hopefully not an UZI or something.

The watcher moved to the crack in the door and took a look himself, at least he wasn't being held prisoner in there like last time he thought to himself weighing up the situation. 'Doesn't look like the Atkins Diet has worked out all that well for Balthazar' he quipped, he had almost forgotten how ludicrously obese the demon in the jacuzi bath was.

'The _what_ diet?' Buffy responded quizzically.

Wesley mentally kicked himself, that wasn't going to get wildly popular for a couple more years he remembered. 'All protein' he explained, it didn't seem likely the demon favoured carbs over human flesh.

'And does that work?' Buffy asked, intrigued.

'Yes, but a diet too rich in meat might make you a tad belligerent perhaps' Wesley replied.

Buffy regarded Wesley for a moment. Skinny, aggressive... yeah that might explain it she reasoned. 'So what's _your_ plan?' she asked him.

'Well you know what they say' Wesley replied, 'live by the sword...'

'Die by the sword' Buffy finished for him.

'No I was actually thinking Molotov Cocktails' Wesley replied, opening the bag and lifting out a wine bottle with a cloth wick stuck in it. 'Petrol' he explained, 'that's gasoline to you' he translated from English to American, 'and some motor oil to thicken it up' he added.

'You want us to set the vamps on fire with petrol bombs?' Faith asked. 'Cool' she declared, breaking out into a grin.

'No, more like extremely hot' Wesley corrected her. 'The fact is that although slayers are highly resistant to blunt-force trauma you cut as easily as the rest of us so given that they both considerably outnumber you, and carry swords, it seemed wise to employ methods other than sharpened pieces of wood.'

'Not exactly low-profile if we end up torching the building' Buffy pointed out.

'Just make sure to get rid of all the opposition before the Sunnydale Fire Department show up' Wesley advised, handing one of the crude firebombs to Faith and a second to Buffy who took it more reluctantly.

'Couldn't get a flamethrower?' Buffy asked sardonically, inspecting the bottle.

'Not delivered, I'll have to pick it up the next time I'm in LA' Wesley replied.

'He's a freaking riot B' Faith said, her grin widening. 'Gotta love that deadpan Brit delivery' she said.

Wesley was being serious but was willing to take credit for entirely inadvertent humour. 'I assume you have a lighter Faith?' he asked.

'Yeah' Faith replied, reaching into her jacket pocket.

'I don't know whether slayer healing prevents cancer, none of you has ever lived long enough to have died from it, but just in case I'd suggest you quit smoking' Wesley told her.

'What makes you think I'll live long enough that the Big C is an issue Wes?' Faith replied, getting ready to light her Molotov Cocktail and then Buffy's.

'Because I plan to have not one, but two slayers under my guidance die from old age' Wesley told her.

'Lofty ambition' Buffy observed.

'Yes, but if it ever looks unachievable in the conventional sense I can always go looking for a spell that'll age you both prematurely' Wesley replied. This deliberate attempt at a joke didn't get a laugh which annoyed him. 'Go incinerate the undead' he told them, shooing them on their way as Faith lit the petrol bombs.

Watching dispassionately as Faith kicked in the door and threw her flaming bottle at the feet of three of the vampires Wesley briefly wondered if Balthazar had been celebrating the death of his long-time foe Mayor Wilkins or was instead annoyed it hadn't been him that arranged it. Either way the fat bastard would very stood be joining his enemy again, assuming whatever kind of soul they had ended up in the same hell-dimension, so maybe they could settle their differences there?

Buffy's own petrol-bomb was actually deployed more productively, catching four vampires in the explosion of burning fluid it produced, and Wesley made a mental note to coach Faith in the finer art of not throwing like a girl over the next few weeks. Caught by surprise, and with several of their number already ablaze, the El Eliminati were not putting up a particularly good fight so far Wesley considered and judging from the screeching coming from their demon master Balthazar he agreed with the watcher's assessment.

Although extremely athletic Faith was a brawler and lacked some of the blond slayer's technique Wesley noted, watching them begin to dispatch the vampires. 'Don't play with them Faith' he called out to her as she seemed to be toying with a pair of them while Buffy was all business.

'Kill them, kill them!' Balthazar practically screamed at his minions as the fires caused by the Molotov's started to spread.

I guess getting up and running away isn't so much of a possibility for the flabby git, Wesley thought as he pondered whether he should do something about the demon himself but decided to let the girls handle it. 'Excellent work Buffy' he praised her as she ducked under a swinging sword and then snapped forward to quickly dust the now unbalanced vampire who had been holding it.

Kicking one of the El Eliminati aside Faith disarmed another and then began repeatedly punching it in the face, softening it up before making the kill and having some fun while she did. She was getting really juiced now and might need to try and find some hot guy to sidle up to later in order to burn off the excess energy she thought as she felt the vampire's nose crunch nicely under her knuckles.

One of the windows suddenly smashed in as a black-clad figure jumped through. Took him a while to show up, Wesley thought to himself, maybe he's not stalking the girl as closely as I remembered he wondered as Angel pounced on a vampire that was about to do the same to Buffy.

Wesley had forgotten how much Angel had bulked up over the years he knew him as he feigned lack of recognition. 'Who the bloody hell is this?' he yelled out relieved it was so much easier to cope with seeing him than it had been to encounter Cordelia while leaving the school library.

At first Wesley hadn't known whether or not it was a good thing that seeing the girl alive again had tugged so hard on his heart-strings. On the plus side it was nice in a way to have some reassurance he wasn't so far gone as not to have completely abandoned his humanity, but on the minus it had hurt not to be able to simply grab her and give her a hug. Still at least that spark they had "enjoyed" the last time around wasn't present now that he thought of her more like a sister than an object of desire. Saving her from an early demise, and several mystical pregnancies, was of course high on his agenda only just below rescuing Fred and perhaps keeping Faith on the straight and narrow.

With Angel's intervention the El Eliminati were soon disposed of and Balthazar's growing rage began to merge with a sense of panic as the two slayers and the infamous ensoulled vampire rounded on him. 'You think you've won?' the demon asked.

'Yeah, pretty much' Faith told him. 'We going to just let this guy burn?' she asked the others.

Wesley sighed. 'Don't underestimate your opponent' he told her.

'What's he going to do?' Faith responded to the watcher's caution. 'Sweat?' she asked sarcastically.

Balthalzar reached out his hands and with some kind of force distorting the air between them Angel was dragged towards him powerless to resist ending up with the demon's hands clamped around his head. 'I could snap his neck or crush his skull before you got half way to me slayer' he told Buffy who looked like she was about to make her move.

'Bugger' Wesley swore when he realised that neither Buffy nor Faith were positioned to repeat the method of dispatch which had been employed to end the demon's days the last time he had been through these events.

'So what now slayer?' Balthalzar asked with an obvious smirk.

'Let him go' Buffy ordered through clenched teeth.

'Would I be correct in assuming we _don't_ want this pale gentleman to meet his demise?' Wesley spoke up.

'He's B's squeeze' Faith helpfully told him.

'Ah' Wesley replied. 'Well here's hoping this works then' he replied raising his arm and pointing it at Balthazar.

The mechanism fixed to Wesley's forearm launched a ruler-like wooden stake reinforced with metal bands across the room at a high enough velocity that when it impacted with the side of Balthazar's head it drove itself in a good three inches. This wasn't a fatal injury to a demon of his power but it did hurt enough very effectively break his concentration and focus is supremely important when using magic.

As he felt the physical and mystical hold Balthazar had on him suddenly end Angel broke free and quickly turned to return the favour, grabbing hold of the demon's head, getting some leverage and then viciously snapping its neck.

'Do you keep aces up those sleeves to cheat at cards too?' Faith asked Wesley.

'We should get going' Wesley responded, ignoring the accusation that he might cheat at anything as trivial as cards, fate yes, fighting definitely, but not cards.

Angel pulled the specially constructed stake out of the demon's head and rinsed it off before lobbing it at the English guy he hadn't met before, the man catching it and giving a nod of thanks. 'I don't know what's in those barrels over there' Angel remarked, 'but assuming it's not going to react well to fire we need to get out of here' he suggested.

'Are you okay?' Buffy asked Angel, with concern.

'Less talk, more flight is in order' Wesley advised, heading for the door. In a few more minutes the entire place could go up and the authorities would be on their way.

'Is this your new watcher?' Angel asked Buffy as they followed.

'Yes' Buffy confirmed.

'He seems... different' Angel noted, of course the guy may have just saved his life so he was okay with different.

'That's one way to describe him' Buffy replied evenly. 'Might be worth keeping at least a sword length between you when you introduce yourself' she advised.

Angel looked confused. 'He hasn't got a sword' he replied.

'Trust me he's just full of surprises' Buffy told Angel seriously as they left the warehouse to burn down with Balthazar's corpse inside.

Returning later to watch the Sunnydale Fire Department tackle the blaze Wesley frowned. Maybe last time he had been too scared to notice, or perhaps the electrical burns hadn't been severe enough, but either way he just couldn't recall Balthazar smelling so much like a pork roast. 'No bacon with my breakfast tomorrow' Wesley wisely decided as he headed home, stomach doing flip-flops at the very idea.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

_Wesley's collapsible sword also had a device that could deploy or launch a reinforced wooden stake when required. It had enough power behind it to bury itself half way into a wall so I thought it should be able to do much the same to Balthazar's head._


	6. Chapter 6

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

* * *

**Sunspot Motel – Sunnydale – March 16th 1999**

'Not what I was hoping for' Faith said disparagingly, looking around the spartan motel room.

'It's better than where you're staying now and if I'm paying the bloody rent you'd better not complain about the ambience' Wesley replied curtly. 'I'm in the next room, at least until I can find a decent apartment anyway' he added.

'Want to keep an eye on me?' Faith asked sweetly. 'Maybe planning to drill a hole in the wall so you can watch me undress?' she continued, trying to get a bite out of him.

'Faith, in the short time I've known you it has already become obvious that you need two things' Wesley responded. 'Stability and the realisation that your undoubted charms do not give you the ability to wrap every heterosexual male you encounter around your little finger' he told her then paused. 'Make that three things' he corrected himself, 'grammar lessons wouldn't go amiss either' he decided after thinking about it.

'You're definitely paying the rent?' Faith checked, looking around again. It was a step up from the eighteen dollar a day Sunnydale Motor Inn she had to admit, if not the sweet crib she had been hoping for. Perhaps she had been exaggerating in her mind how much Watcher's got paid, or maybe those guns and gadgets had cleaned him out?

'Yes, I'm covering the rent but if you start thinking about ordering room service and think I'll pick up the tab for you to get breakfast delivered to your door think again' Wesley told her. 'If you're alright with freeloading off me now you've seen the place we can go collect your belongings from your current fleapit' he said.

'Oh yeah, I'll mooch off ya' Faith confirmed, grinning. 'You know if they _paid_ slayers you wouldn't have to' she noted.

'It's a calling, a duty, it's not a career choice Faith' Wesley replied. 'And now I've quoted the Slayer Handbook I'll admit to agreeing with you there but I doubt that Quentin Travers is likely to put you on a salary any time soon' he continued, checking his watch. 'Nearly lunchtime, we'll pick up your stuff then find somewhere to eat.'

Faith was still grinning. 'You paying again because if you are I can suggest somewhere...' she began. 'Cheap' she said changing tack mid sentence, her grin vanishing when his expression turned dark.

'You'll be expecting a damn Playstation next' Wesley grumbled as they closed the door behind them and headed to where his hire-car was parked.

'So I guess no pocket-money?' Faith checked hopefully.

'No' Wesley told her flatly.

'You know I _do_ have expenses' Faith told him. '_Slayer_ expenses like clothes' she said.

'Clothes are slayer expenses?' Wesley replied, unconvinced.

'Hey leather is good for fighting vamps and demons in' Faith defended her position. 'You wear that brown jacket don't you?' she pointed out. 'It's not my fault good leather pants can set you back a few more bucks than Walmart jeans and a T-Shirt.'

'If you're arguing practicality then chain-mail would work even better' Wesley replied as they walked together towards the Motel parking lot.

'How the hell would I go clubbing in freaking chain-mail?' Faith retorted.

Wesley smirked. 'You're clearly not going to places which cater to the right fetishes' he told her.

Faith stopped walking, Wesley doing likewise. 'You're not one of those guys who chains chicks up are you?' she asked seriously.

'Only in the professional not recreational sense' Wesley replied evenly.

'You know I'm getting the idea that there's like this...' Faith began then searched for the right word, '_spectrum_ of watchers from really nice like Diana to really evil like that bitch Post' she said. 'Giles is somewhere between the two of them and you're leaning even further towards the dark side' she told him as she started moving again.

'You're a lot smarter and more perceptive than people assume from your manner and appearance' Wesley told her appreciatively. 'That's good, hidden depths are a great advantage because when the opposition underestimate you they open themselves up to their own weaknesses being exploited.'

'So what are _your_ hidden depths?' Faith asked.

Wesley chuckled. 'I could tell you but then I'd have to...'

'Kill me?' Faith interrupted him, finishing the old cliché.

'I was going to say buy you that Playstation to keep you quiet' Wesley told her. 'Although killing you would be cheaper' he realised. 'Oh, just to let you know I'm taking back the car tomorrow because I'm picking up my new motorcycle, I suppose I should get a spare helmet for you?' he decided, wondering what her reaction would be to a pink one like the one he made Angel wear once and prudently opting not to find out.

Faith raised her eyebrows. 'Let me guess, a Harley?' she speculated.

Wesley shook his head. 'Norton 850 Commando' he replied.

'Never heard of it' Faith admitted, most of the bikers she had known were into Harleys or other big American bikes.

'It's British and it's older than you are so I'm not surprised' Wesley told her. 'Giles was impressed though' he noted. Actually part of the reason he had gone for the 1970's classic was that he suspected it might curry favour with the older man, plus it was a very good bike in itself. Wesley had always hankered for a motorcycle in his teens but of course his father would have never allowed it, owning one helped him put aside what a panicky incompetent he had originally been at this point in his life. Being told repeatedly you weren't good enough hadn't just crippled Wesley's self-esteem it had prevented him from finding out that he was, in reality, almost disturbingly competent at some things.

'How thick are the walls here anyhow?' Faith queried as they got into the car ready to set out for the Motor Inn. 'You know with us in motel rooms next to each other...'

'If I bring a girl back to my room I'll try not to be too noisy' Wesley told her.

Faith laughed, her new watcher was definitely not a stick-in-the-mud. 'Okay then I'll do the same' she promised.

'Faith, if _you_ bring a girl back feel free to be as noisy as you like and ideally record the event' Wesley told her, starting the car.

'Want a copy?' Faith replied, smirking. She knew for all the denials he was interested.

'Actually I was thinking that the profits from the video sales would mean you could afford your own damn rent' Wesley told her, putting the car into gear.

It was a Tuesday so Buffy and her merry band were at school all day giving Wesley an opportunity to try and bond a little with Faith. He had to keep reminding himself that several of the events that were going to mould her into the girl who had tortured him had not happened and indeed simply weren't going to this time around so he had to watch what he said and how he treated her.

For all the worldly-wise attitude Faith was still just a young girl looking for acceptance and as Wesley watched her slaying a plate of ham and eggs at the diner she had suggested, he realised that what she really lacked in terms of keeping her grounded was friends. 'Take your elbows off the table' he told her.

Faith swallowed what she had been chewing. 'You are no way as cool as you dress' she told him, ignoring his attempt to improve her table manners.

'You need to be a social chameleon' Wesley told her. 'You'd stand out like a sore thumb in an expensive restaurant.'

'So would you' Faith countered.

'I can shave and put on a suit' Wesley told her. 'Putting you in an expensive dress with jewellery isn't going to last too long as a disguise if you don't behave like a lady.'

'We're in a diner Wes' Faith told him. 'I don't think the teamsters over there in the corner give a shit about the way I'm eating my lunch' she added sardonically.

Wesley sighed and picked up his coffee, he had ordered it instead of tea because it was so difficult to get decent tea in this country. 'I'm thinking of adding etiquette lessons to your training program' he announced, raising the cup to his lips.

'You're shitting me?' Faith responded incredulously.

'No' Wesley told her putting the cup down again. 'And a larger less obscene vocabulary would do you no end of good too for that matter.'

Faith leaned closer across the table. 'All I have to do is dust vampires and beat up on the occasional demon' she whispered. 'I'm not on a self-improvement kick' she continued. 'I _like_ who I am' she told him sternly.

'And your expansive peer group just only goes to show how correct your assessment of your amiability is' Wesley responded.

Faith leaned back and glared at him. 'Oh yeah and how many friends have _you_ got?' she asked sarcastically.

'Very few ever, and none here, but I'm better adjusted to being an introspective loner in that I don't hold other people quite as responsible for my being an arsehole' Wesley said, chuckling ironically. 'People who need people aren't _really_ the luckiest people in the world, the song is bollocks, but if you need them and don't have them you're going to be miserable.'

'I don't need anyone' Faith told him, becoming angry at the way the conversation was developing.

'Neither do I but I was happier when I was with my friends' Wesley told her. 'I miss the company and the camaraderie' he noted, 'the joking around too' he continued, smiling as he recalled the happier times he had spent with Cordelia, Gunn, Fred and Angel. 'Slaying isn't your life, it's your job' he said. 'Albeit one that doesn't pay, as you rightly pointed out earlier.'

Faith narrowed her eyes. 'Wes are you telling me you think I should try and make some friends because isn't that like the complete opposite of all that crap you get taught at Watcher School?' she asked rhetorically.

'What they taught me at the Academy was ninety percent dross' Wesley replied honestly. 'Giles probably thinks only seventy-five percent but he's still a little old-fashioned' he joked. 'You need something to live for, something _other_ than being the Chosen One, or rather half of the Chosen Two' he told her.

'People just want to use you' Faith stated. 'You want to use me to, fight the big bad and save the world right?' she asked.

To be more specific he wanted to use her to save a slightly deranged physicist from a Hell Dimension too but Wesley wisely opted not to reveal that. 'Yes, but even from a purely selfish perspective you'll likely be better at it if you're happier in yourself and if I have to deal with you for the next few years I'd rather you weren't bitter and weighed down with angst and misery' he said. 'It's in my interests to look out for you so I will' he told her. 'Even when you don't want me to' he added.

Faith considered what he had said. 'I don't think that's why Giles looks out for B' she replied.

'Rupert started to think of her like a daughter at some point' Wesley responded, taking up his coffee again and casting an eye in the direction of the pastries on display. 'I suppose in theory I might end up thinking of you as an annoying little sister because I'm not _that_ much older than you are' he said.

'I'm not looking for a big bro Wes' Faith replied.

'You're not what I'd have picked for a sister either' Wesley told her. 'For a start I suspect I would have ended up beating the snot out of at least half your boyfriends and that would have gotten tedious after a while' he decided. 'Miss can I have a slice of the apple pie and some cream?' he requested of a waitress going by. 'Would you like some dessert?' he asked Faith.

'Yeah if you're still buying' Faith replied. 'I'll have the same' she told the waitress before turning back to Wesley. 'You know for some reason I can be pissed off at you one minute and like you the next' she said. 'It's like you know all the right buttons to push' she continued. 'Why is that?' she asked.

'Maybe in a past life we _were_ siblings' Wesley suggested. 'You'll have to find your own dinner, I'm meeting Willow later' he said.

'Willow?' Faith repeated quizzically. 'Wouldn't have figured her to be your type' she said. 'Two words' she continued. 'Jail and Bait.'

'It's not a romantic rendezvous' Wesley replied, rolling his eyes. 'She mentioned that she and a wannabe warlock of her acquaintance were going to try and reverse a spell which had changed one of her friends into a rat.'

'Yeah, I heard about that' Faith replied, as the waitress returned with their desserts.

'Thank you very much' Wesley told the waitress with a smile. 'And can I get a refill on the coffee?' he asked, the young woman going to collect the coffee pot from the heater for him.

'So why do you care about what Red and her wacky magic pal are up to?' Faith wanted to know. 'You're not going to give them the "Some things are not meant to be trifled with" speech are you?' she asked.

'No I just wanted to make sure they didn't accidentally turn themselves into rodents' Wesley replied. 'Magic can backfire' he said quietly as the waitress arrived and poured him a fresh cup of coffee.

Faith waited until the waitress had departed. 'So I guess you've read a few books on magic or something then?' she asked.

'A fair number in fact' Wesley confirmed.

'And you want to see it done for real right?' Faith reasoned, picking up a fork and preparing to start on her apple pie.

Wesley adopted a mischievous smile. 'I'm not entirely lacking in practical experience' he told her.

Faith put down her fork. 'Is this one of those hidden depths things?' she asked.

'Can you keep a secret?' Wesley asked.

'Sure' Faith confirmed.

Wesley fixed her with a look. 'One that I _won't_ have to bribe you to keep' he said.

'Yeah' Faith agreed more reluctantly.

'This is something that only you and I know' Wesley told her, looking around and making sure nobody was looking in their direction. 'Giles would probably take a dim view and the Council back home would go ballistic if they knew I dabbled like this' he said, pulling his sleeve up slightly and holding his right hand open in front of him, palm facing upwards.

Faith watched curiously and then her eyes widened with shock as a little ball of fire less than an inch across appeared floating above his hand. 'Jesus' she exclaimed, 'neat trick' she said as it vanished again.

'Just need to know the right spells and have a little natural talent' Wesley confided in her. 'My father never let me explore my potential, although to be honest that might have something to do with him catching me trying to resurrect a dead bird which had flown into my windowpane when I was seven' he admitted. 'Mum was thrilled, thought I might be a great warlock in the making, but father ran the household.'

'You had a weird childhood' Faith stated.

'It was crap, I was never good enough for the old man' Wesley replied. 'The irony is that in terms of crap it became evident later that he was full of it' he said, forking some apple pie into his mouth.

'You turned out okay' Faith told him.

Wesley nearly choked on his pie as he spontaneously broke out laughing. He eventually managed to force it down and coughed a few times. 'Took practice' he said once he was able.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

___At this time Faith was staying in a lousy motel called the Sunnydale Motor Inn. Wesley has moved her to a slightly better class of establishment, this being the Sunspot Motel._

__

_We learn in AtS episode 5.7 Lineage that Wesley had been dabbling in magic since he was very young. This might help explain why by the end of AtS Season 5 he was able to generate fireballs in his hands, he had the interest and ability but was never allowed to develop it. _

___The warlock who is trying to help Willow turn Amy the Rat back into Amy the Human is Michael Czajak another Sunnydale High student. It's mentioned he and Willow were trying to do this in BtVS episode 3.15 Consequences much of the rest of the show being completely scratched from this story because Faith didn't kill the Deputy Mayor (Wesley did) and Mayor Wilkins is gone too._**_  
_**


	7. Chapter 7

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

* * *

**Library – Sunnydale High – March 23rd 1999**

As far as Wesley was concerned one of the more annoying aspects of the situation he found himself in was the constant need to pretend to be surprised by things he knew full well were going to happen in advance. Although the butterfly effects of changes made to this timeline were starting to confuse the issue, and the differences would increase dramatically over time, the current situation was one in which he had to feign bewilderment and he hoped his acting ability was up to it. 'You're not dead' he told Willow disbelievingly.

'I wish people would stop saying that' Willow complained. The unexpected hugs she received from Buffy and Xander and the _really_ unexpected hug from Giles when they found out she was still alive had been bad enough.

'My uncanny grasp of the obvious is telling me that Wesley there has also encountered your vampiric doppelganger' Giles reasoned.

'Welcome to weirdsville Giles-Junior' Xander told Wesley. 'Population us' he said, indicating himself and Buffy who had encountered whatever it was at the Bronze earlier.

'I'm confused' Wesley lied, although it was far more likely to be believed than the truth.

'From what I can ascertain there is another Willow somewhere in Sunnydale and she's a vampire' Giles explained. 'Honestly once you open your mind to the possibility it's not _too_ difficult to grasp' he added sardonically.

'Where did you meet me?' Willow asked Wesley, 'I mean the other me.'

'In an alley near that club the youngsters in this town seem to frequent' Wesley replied, still deliberately casting wary looks at Willow for effect. 'I confess I was considerably taken aback' he admitted.

'By the teeth or the fashion statement?' Buffy asked.

'The former, but not by a huge amount more than the latter' Wesley replied. 'I don't suppose anyone can tell me why we have one Ms. Rosenberg too many and why the spare is a bloodsucking fiend can they?' he asked hopefully, looking around.

'No, sorry' Buffy replied apologetically. 'We're just as in the dark as you are' she told him, being of course unaware of his prior knowledge of these events.

'Before we start theorising I think our top priority should be to find this other Willow and _then_ try and figure out what happened' Giles insisted. 'Every second the creature is loose innocent people are in danger.'

'Right' Buffy agreed. 'We'll start at the Bronze and work our way out from there in a search pattern...'

'Well unless Faith disobeyed orders and staked her she should still be tied up in a dumpster in the alley I met her in' Wesley interrupted before Buffy could continue.

'I'm sorry?' Giles responded, nonplussed.

'I tasered her' Wesley told them. 'I mean if it had been an ordinary vampire I would have staked her immediately while she was still twitching but...'

'You tasered her?' Buffy interrupted Wesley in return.

Wesley reached into his jacket and took out a plastic pistol. 'It's a lot quieter than the Colt Automatic you objected to me using against the El Eliminati and I'm happy to report that the nervous system of a vampire is apparently just as susceptible to fifty-thousand volts as that of a living person' he told them. 'I shot the electrodes into her, gave her couple of shocks then tied her up and called Faith on her mobile to come watch her' he said. 'I thought I should deliver the news to you all personally rather than on the phone and should leave it up to you as to what to do with her.'

'Faith's mobile?' Xander queried.

'It's what we call cell-phones in the UK' Giles explained. 'How did you happen to have something strong enough to bind a vampire with you?' he asked curiously.

'I took the cable from my grappling gun and used my leatherman tool to twist it together' Wesley told them, putting his taser back in one pocket and now producing the folding pliers from another. Knowing he was going to be intercepting the vampire before it could injure anyone he had considered bringing handcuffs or some strong cord but it was better if it seemed like had merely improvised.

'He's Batman' Xander declared, 'no wait he's like someone took Batman and merged him with Alfred.'

'I may have been amiss in not saying earlier it's very nice to know that you _aren't_ dead' Wesley told Willow awkwardly. 'It was very surprising but far from unwelcome' he added. 'If we're going to collect the other one I'm afraid we'll have to use your car Giles as I can't really put a bound teenage girl wearing a dominatrix outfit over the back of my motorcycle without attracting the attention of the constabulary' he noted.

'Did he say dominatrix outfit?' Willow responded then frowned. 'Does it suit me?' she asked.

'It's a little extreme' Buffy replied guardedly.

'After the shock of seeing it was you, and before the teeth, I thought it was quite fetching' Wesley told her.

'Hey!' Xander objected.

Giles went to fetch his car keys from his office. 'There is still the matter of where this other Willow came from to consider' he said.

'For the want of other information perhaps someone has been dabbling in the Dark Arts?' Wesley suggested.

Willow's eyes widened. 'Oh!' she exclaimed. 'I mean ooopsy' she said, blushing and looking down at the ground shuffling her feet.

Everyone looked at her and then Giles coughed from his office doorway where he was now standing, car-keys in hand. 'You wouldn't care to expand on "Ooopsy" would you?' he asked with an air of disapproval already starting to emanate from him.

Anya was not having the best day ever. D'Hoffryn had once again flat-out refused to fold back time and enable her to regain her power, math class was worse than ever and she had been told she needed to take extra tuition, the spell she had tried to cast with the help of the mousy wicca had failed, the barman wouldn't serve her a beer without ID and now there was not one but _two_ fricking slayers standing over her as she tried to chill out in the Bronze. 'I think you've got the wrong person' she told them unconvincingly, forcing an innocent smile.

'That's strange because my friend Willow standing over there looking guilty is pretty sure that you were the one who got her to help you with a little black-magic' Buffy replied.

'Mistaken identity' Anya responded, looking around for an escape route.

'Can't I just slug her and drag her out of here?' Faith asked, already getting bored.

'Can somebody call a cop?' Anya asked loudly.

Buffy leaned forward and lowered her voice. 'If you don't come along we're going to wait for you outside and do very bad things to you' she told Anya in as serious a tone as she could muster.

Anya smirked. 'You're not the type' she replied just as softly, then saw the expression Faith was wearing. 'I think she is though so I'll come along' she agreed after weighing up the situation. 'It's okay, I was just kidding' she said, raising her volume again as she stood up and followed Buffy, Faith trailing behind in case she tried to make a run for it and Willow hurrying to catch up.

Less than fifteen minutes later Anya was in the school library looking at a duplicate of Willow locked in a cage, only with an even paler complexion and radically different taste in clothes. 'Okay that sort of explains what went wrong' the former vengeance-demon observed. 'You know this isn't your world right?' she asked the vampire. 'I mean you know you don't belong here?'

'No this is a dumb world' Vampire Willow replied. 'In my world there are people in chains, and we can ride them like ponies' she said, smiling as she recalled her home.

'She's from a parallel universe' Anya explained, 'I used my powers to open a doorway between the realities and she came through' she said. 'It was a total accident though trust me' she told them, 'there's enough vampires in this reality already, I didn't bring in another one deliberately.'

'And you're a demon?' Wesley asked her, looking intrigued.

'Vengeance Demon' Anya told him. 'Or I was' she continued sadly. 'I'm back to being human again now and it sucks' Anya declared bitterly. 'I never used to have to kowtow to the likes of slayers, _and_ I could get a drink when I wanted it' she said in annoyance. 'I'm eleven-hundred and twenty years old for the sake of the Pestilent Gods' she exclaimed loudly, throwing her hands in the air then letting them drop again, a dejected expression on her face. 'I'd kill everyone in this room for a foaming horn of good-quality mead' she muttered.

'Okay, looks like this chick has a few issues' Faith commented.

'Look who's talking' Anya retorted. 'You're not exactly the best adjusted individual in this room now are you?' she asked sarcastically. 'You're only a couple more failed relationships away from D'Hoffyrn giving you a job offer' she said.

'As fascinating as this is academically we do now find ourselves needing to determine what our course of action should be from this point' Giles steered the conversation back on track.

'Easy' Faith responded, 'we dust the un-dead redhead and then cut the demon-chick's head off' she recommended.

Anya looked alarmed. 'Hey, I'm completely human now' she pointed out quickly. 'Don't you people have rules about that?' she checked. 'I thought I had an automatic get-out-of-being-slain card?'

'It does say that in the Slayer Handbook' Wesley agreed. 'Of course I prefer to think of them as not being so much rules as guidelines' he added, realising that stealing lines from films that hadn't been made yet was a great way to sound spontaneous and witty, and resolving to do it more often.

'And we can't just stake me, I mean her' Willow insisted. 'It's just... icky' she said. 'And not nice at all' she said.

Buffy looked at the other Willow, she was feeling a few qualms about dusting the vampire version of her friend too for that matter. 'So what do we do with her then?' Buffy asked. 'I mean we can't just release her into the wild, she's a demon.'

'Well maybe we could send her back to her own world' Willow suggested. 'It's the way it should be, give her a chance.'

'So because we don't want her eating people here we send her to another reality to eat the people there instead?' Wesley responded disapprovingly. 'Wouldn't that make anybody she killed there our fault?' he pointed out.

'Oh' Willow said, thinking about it. 'I guess it sorta would' she agreed.

'So we dust her' Faith said, 'can someone loan me a stake?' she requested.

'No' Buffy replied, 'and what do you do with those things anyway?' she asked. 'The number of times I've lent you one of mine, not got in back and you've _still_ never got one.'

'I'm always putting them down and forgetting where they are' Faith confessed.

'That might explain why I've found three lying around the library in the last month' Giles said.

'Well she's never going to get to borrow Mr Pointy that's for certain' Buffy said determinedly.

'So if I'm not needed here any more I'll be going then' Anya said, smiling insincerely and turning to leave.

'Faith if she goes another step kick her arse' Wesley ordered.

'No problem' Faith replied happily, getting ready to pounce.

Anya stopped and turned back. 'What do you want for me anyway?' she asked. 'I told you where she comes from and if you don't want me to help send her back why can't get I leave?' she asked.

'You can't leave for a very similar reason that we can't release the Mistress of Pain in the cage there' Wesley replied. 'You might hurt someone.'

'If you don't let me go now then I might very well hurt _you_ when I get my powers back' Anya told him, glaring.

'You're really not helping your case' Xander informed Anya.

'So what are we going to do with them?' Buffy asked.

Wesley frowned. 'If staking the vampire has been ruled out then I might have suggested re-ensouling her but for the slight problem that _our_ Willow Rosenberg is already using her soul in this dimension and I don't think any of us know what might happen if we attempted that magic in these circumstances' he said. 'The soul might just jump from one to the other, or even split if that's even metaphysically possible.'

'I don't want a soul' Vampire Willow declared firmly.

'You don't get a vote' Xander told her.

'Could we maybe get her original soul?' Willow asked.

'Souls can't jump realities' Anya said scornfully. 'The only way you could do what you're suggesting is if you went to her world and tried working the spell there' she said then realised she had said too much when everyone looked at her.

Wesley inwardly smiled, he was very pleased Anya had said that before he had too. He had calculated this was one way in which to start getting Buffy and the others thinking about travelling to other realities. If they went to the alternate Willow's world to put her soul back it would give him an excuse to start openly researching portals and related phenomena later, seemingly from a purely academic stance.

'This seems very ambitious' Giles had to point out, 'risky in fact.'

'If she can come through from one direction and then go back we should be able to as well' Wesley reasoned. 'The doorway between worlds must not be slammed as tightly shut as I thought' he added thoughtfully.

'If you're thinking about doing something that insane you can do it without me' Anya declared.

'_Can_ we do it without you?' Willow asked her.

'I doubt it' Anya replied.

Wesley crossed his arms. 'Giles is correct that it may be risky, and I certainly think we should plan and research in great detail before attempting any such a solution to our Extra-Willow problem, but it might be worth considering' he said.

'If we can prove it's not too dangerous I'd like to give it a try Buffy' Willow told her friend. 'There's bound to be something in the books' she said, 'or maybe she can help?' Willow added, indicating Anya.

'No way I'm getting involved' Anya stated. 'You can count me out' she said determinedly

Faith walked over to Anya, smiled and then suddenly hit her with a right-cross that dropped her to the ground unconscious. 'Ten, Nine, Eight...' Faith began.

'Was that in any way necessary?' Giles asked her, shaking his head in disapproval. 'And _you_ can bloody well stop laughing too' he told Wesley irately as the younger watcher tried and failed to hold back a guffaw.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

___I think I've been a little creative here in using the circumstances offered by BtVS episode 3.16 Doppelgangland to Wesley's advantage. With the unwitting help of Willow, former Vengeance Demon (and now reluctant High-School student) Anya accidentally transported the alternate Willow previously seen in episode 3.09 The Wish to the main BtVS universe and then later sent her back. Here our protagonist Wesley is planning to use this situation to further his long-term goal of getting Fredback from Pylea._**_  
_**


	8. Chapter 8

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

_

* * *

_

**Giles's Apartment – Sunnydale – March 29th 1999**

'You know you could just leave her bound and gagged in the closet between feedings' Wesley advised Giles, indicating the despondent Willow. She was sat on the kitchen chair regarding the mug of red liquid on the table in front of her without relish. 'It's not like she needs good ventilation or is going to get any more pale' he noted.

Giles sighed. 'Unfortunately certain others regarded that as inhumane' he replied, as a second Willow entered from the direction of the bathroom it was her turn to help Giles watch their "guest" tonight. 'I believe the phrase was "cruel and unusual punishment" wasn't it?' he queried, addressing her.

'Even Amy has a little wheel in her cage to keep her occupied' Willow replied. 'How's your blood?' she asked her vampiric doppelganger with a smile.

The Willow wearing black leather and lacking a pulse scowled at her twin. 'Firstly anything that isn't human tastes like shit' she began her terse reply, 'and secondly we're Jewish so what's with the pig's blood?' she asked indignantly.

Willow gasped. 'Oh I'm sorry' she exclaimed. 'I didn't know honestly' she continued before turning towards Wesley. 'Couldn't you have found something Kosher?' she asked him.

'It's a _vampire_' Wesley responded. 'I wasn't really giving its dietary preferences much thought when I purchased the thing's dinner earlier' he said, rolling his eyes.

Giles coughed. 'I believe the Jewish faith already forbids the consumption of blood anyway so why does it matter?' he queried in a more measured fashion.

'It's the principle of the thing' the vampire muttered.

'Perhaps we should keep a stock of different kinds of animal blood in order to make sure not to offend any future undead prisoners' Wesley suggested wryly. 'If we can't give pig's blood to Jewish vampires then I guess we can't give cow's blood to Hindu ones too' he said. 'For that matter perhaps we should keep a supply of fish blood in case we need to feed Catholic vampires on Friday?' he wondered, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

'I'll get you something else tomorrow' Willow told her vampire double, ignoring Wesley.

'Human?' the vampire asked hopefully. 'Even if you won't bring me one to drain myself you could always steal some from a hospital' she suggested.

Willow shook her head. 'No sorry, but at least it'll be cow' she said brightly.

'Oh yummy' the vampire replied unenthusiastically, sticking her tongue out in distaste.

Wesley looked from one Willow to the other. 'Don't ask me how I know this, but if you add a dash of vole or otter blood to the stuff she'll likely find it far more palatable' he said. 'Don't ask me how to get hold of any either' he added as Giles threw him a quizzical look.

'That's kinda a weird thing to know' the human Willow told the younger watcher.

'Maybe I used to date a vampire' Wesley replied, half-smiling.

Willow laughed. 'No that's more of a Buffy thing' she decided. The slayer and Angel were supposed to be going to the movies on a date that night not that she was going to let either of the watchers know.

'True, necrophilia isn't really my thing' Wesley agreed.

'Get me a pint of human blood and I'll change your mind on that' vampire willow offered, running her tongue over her lips seductively.

'Whilst I don't doubt that you could suck a golf-ball through a garden hose I'm afraid the fear of you biting down would inevitably lead to some performance anxiety so I'll have to reluctantly decline' Wesley replied impassively, the human Willow blushing bright red at his words.

'What about you?' the vampire asked Giles.

'Too young, too dead and you look too much like _her_' Giles replied, nodding towards the Willow who was supposed to be in this dimension.

'Okay so how about a three-way with you and the worlds shortest werewolf?' the vampire Willow asked the human one.

Willow blushed even more. 'No' she said, looking down at the ground being unable to make eye-contact. 'I won't get you any blood.'

'I didn't ask you for any, I'm just bored and thought it would be fun' the vampire replied with a shrug. 'But before you say no for definite run it by the hairball, I bet he'll think about it at least' she said confidently. Her Xander back home certainly never said no to them including another girl in the fun.

Giles took off his glasses and started polishing them furiously. 'And I think it's time to put you back in the closet' he decided. The sun would be coming down soon anyway and the vampire was a much bigger escape risk when she could leave the apartment without bursting into flames.

'But I only just got out' the vampire complained.

'And yet you're still ahead of the game' Wesley observed, trying not to laugh and once again resolving not to make comments which might potentially let the cat-out-of-the-bag as regards the future. 'Would you like me to put her back in solitary before I go meet Faith?' he offered.

'That would be doing me a favour, she seems to respond better to you' Giles replied thankfully.

'If you tasered her more often she wouldn't be so obstreperous' Wesley told the other watcher flatly. Although far less of a pain in the arse now than she had been at first their visitor from a parallel universe was nonetheless still not the easiest houseguest to deal with, or the easiest prisoner for that matter.

'It's just difficult to see that face and then fire fifty-thousand volts into her' Giles defended himself. He had in fact been forced to use a stun gun a couple of times to force the recalcitrant vampire to do as it was told, and he now carried one constantly as well as keeping a couple of crossbows handy, but it had felt so damn wrong considering how sweet and fluffy their own Willow was.

'He _enjoys_ it' the vampire complained, pointing an accusing finger at Wesley. 'Him and that pet slayer of his' she stated.

'I do _not_ enjoy it' Wesley denied, 'it just doesn't bother me' he said honestly. 'You might be right about Faith though' he conceded after a pause to think about it. 'Anyhow it's time for solitary and enclosed confinement again until someone sees fit to let you out' he instructed the vampire. 'Could you put the handcuffs on her Willow' he requested of the human version of the girl.

'Kinky' the vampire said with a smirk as Willow picked up the handcuffs which would help restrain the vampire while they secured her properly back in what had been Giles's linen closet.

'Just don't try anything this time' Willow told her alternate self. 'No escape attempts and definitely no naughty grabbing or touching' she ordered.

'Spoilsport' the vampire said, pouting.

'And don't do it to Xander any more either' Willow ordered. 'It totally freaked him out.'

'He didn't complain last night' the vampire replied.

'Having witnessed the incident in question I think he was too shocked and disturbed to say anything' Giles opined.

'He liked it' the vampire said with certainty.

'No he didn't' Willow replied indignantly.

'Considering where she was supposed to have grabbed him according to Buffy I would imagine it was fairly obvious to your alternate self whether he responded positively or not to the experience' Wesley reasoned. 'Of course I could be wrong' he added quickly when Willow glared at him.

As night fell with the vampiric Willow safely stowed away and others likely to be coming out Wesley left Giles's Apartment behind and went to meet Faith at their pre-arranged rendezvous. It was a school night and she had said she had homework which meant Buffy had been let off patrolling but Faith enjoyed no such get-out clause and would be touring the usual vampire haunts with her watcher in tow tonight.

Pulling up his motorcycle outside Willy's Bar, a favourite demon hang-out, Wesley was more than a little surprised to find the typically tardy Faith already there waiting for him outside but then he remembered it was her suggestion they meet there and realised she was probably angling for him to buy her a drink or two. 'You know you're probably scaring away business by being outside' he told the slayer as he got off the bike and took off his helmet.

'Well I've been propositioned three times and one of them was a vamp who actually _knew_ I was a slayer' Faith replied. 'I don't think B is giving people the right impression what with laying one of them instead of slaying him' she said.

Wesley hung his helmet off the handlebars of his Norton 850. 'Setting a terrible precedent' he agreed. 'She'll probably do William the Bloody next' he joked, wishing Faith knew just how funny that really was.

Faith laughed. 'If she ever started to play for the other team maybe she could score that psycho Drusilla too' she suggested, grinning.

'Buffy Summers turns AC/DC?' Wesley replied. 'Well you never know what the future might bring' he said. 'If only someone was to bring Darla back to life she'd have a chance at bagging the whole Whirlwind crew' he continued, smiling. 'Would you care to lead on?' he asked, beckoning the slayer towards the bar entrance.

'I thought it was the guy that was supposed to lead' Faith replied, heading off nonetheless.

'That's dancing and perhaps I just like the view from back here?' Wesley responded, following on as she reached the door and opened it with a kick.

It wasn't as badly lit inside as you might expect for a bar mostly frequented by demons, vampires and assorted human lowlifes and added to Faith's less than subtle entrance causing everyone inside to turn in their direction they were immediately identified by the entire clientele.

'Oh great, a slayer' a Strom Demon at the bar grumbled before returning his attention to his beer and the yak urine chaser beside it.

One of the human patrons was more vocal as she turned on her barstool, her own beer still in hand. 'Why can't you just leave me alone?' Anya asked in annoyance as the unshaven English jerk entered after the vicious slayer bitch. 'I said I'd help with the portal thing didn't I?' she asked rhetorically.

'Had no idea you were here, put the paranoia away' Faith replied. 'Why _are_ you here?' she asked quizzically.

'They don't card' Anya explained.

'Glad to hear it' Faith responded happily. 'Two beers' she told Willy behind the bar holding up a couple of fingers. 'He's paying' she told the barkeep, indicating her watcher.

'On the house' Willy replied, 'as long as you're not planning to roust any of my customers' he continued. 'Or beat me up' he added.

'Beating you up or not will depend on the quality of the beer' Wesley told him. 'You know the bruise is fading nicely' he told Anya.

'No thanks to that psycho' Anya replied, scowling at Faith. 'She slugged me' the former vengeance-demon told Willy, pointing out the mark left on her face where Faith had punched her out a week ago. 'I'm human now, slayers aren't supposed to do that kind of thing' she complained bitterly.

'I pulled the punch didn't I' Faith responded. 'If I hadn't you'd have a broken jaw and be missing half your teeth' she pointed out.

'It still hurt like hell when I came to' Anya replied, subconsciously rubbing her jaw with her free hand. 'I've got a good mind to write a letter of complaint to the Watcher's Council in London' she declared, bringing her beer to her mouth and taking a sip.

'And I'm sure when they break out the file they have on Anyanka they'll take the letter ever so seriously' Wesley said dismissively before sighing. 'Alright give the whiny blond here another too' he instructed Willy. 'I'll pay for this one at least' he said, reaching for his wallet.

'It'll take more than one lousy beer to make amends' Anya told him. 'And I mean lousy' she added, it wasn't exactly a good quality brew that was served here.

'Don't push your luck' Faith warned her.

'And don't belittle what I've got on tap either' Willy added, placing the first beer in front of Faith. 'This is a quality micro-brew' he announced.

'Like crap it is' Anya replied, if she could get a beer at any other establishment in town sjhe sure as hell wouldn't be in this one.

As night wore on the bar would get busier but Wesley planned to only stay for the one beer particularly as it became apparent from tasting it that Anya was spot-on when she had said it was "Like crap". 'I don't suppose you've heard anything about who might be stepping up to fill the power vacuum I've heard is affecting this town recently?' he asked Willy.

'Not heard a thing' Willy replied unconvincingly. Ever since someone had offed Mayor Wilkins everyone had been waiting for someone to try and take over but so far nobody was in a position to grab the shiny prize of boss of the hellmouth.

'Just as long as everyone knows we're the ones that _really_ run Sunnydale right Wes?' Faith said loudly. 'Hey maybe we should start a protection racket?' she suggested.

Willy groaned. 'How much a month?' he asked.

'Two hundred' Faith said quickly.

'Nothing' Wesley corrected her. 'We're not criminals' he said.

'It's alright for you, you've got money' Faith complained.

Willy leaned forward over the bar and dropped his voice to a whisper. 'You know you could skim off some of the cash travelling through town on the back of the Orpheus trade' he said conspiratorially. 'I could steer you in the right direction for a consulting fee' he offered.

'What's Orpheus?' Faith asked.

'Think something like heroin only with magic mixed in' Wesley told her. 'Usually a human takes it and a vampire feeds off them' he explained. 'They both get high.'

'I'll stick to beer' Faith decided. 'Maybe not _this_ beer' she added, pushing her barely started glass away.

'So you're saying that orpheus is coming through Sunnydale?' Wesley asked Willy with interest.

'Yeah, stuff comes through here on its way down to LA and up to San Fran' Willy confirmed.

'Care to point us in the right direction of those involved?' Wesley asked the barkeep.

'Care to cross my palm with a few bucks?' Willy replied.

'I'm a little short right now but how about I promise to give you a share of any money we might happen to get our hands on?' Wesley replied. 'We'll destroy the drugs but there's no sense in wasting any cash that might be with it.'

'So stealing money from drug-dealers is moral you think' Faith checked with her watcher.

'Don't over-think it Faith' Wesley told her.

'Hey I'm with you all the way Boss' Faith replied happily.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

___Willy, owner of Willy's Bar was a snitch as well as a purveyor of "fine" beverages to the demon population of Sunnydale. No prizes for spotting all the references to the future Wesley lived through!_**_  
_**


	9. Chapter 9

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

* * *

**Secluded Back Alley – Sunnydale – April 1st 1999**

'There ain't nothing here Wes' Faith stated. If she was going to skulk around Sunnydale at night she at least expected to get to dust a few vampires, this was just sad.

'Right you are' Wesley replied. 'In the sense of that hideous double-negative being a positive statement that there _is_ in fact something here' he told her, reaching out a hand in mid air and moving it around like he could feel something against his fingertips. 'Very nice work' he said appreciatively.

Faith looked at her watcher askance, glad that B wasn't here to see him lose what the blond slayer already considered a fragile grip on sanity. 'Come on let's go back to Willy's and beat the real location out of him' she said.

Wesley sighed. 'Give me your hand Faith' he requested, reaching out to take it.'

Ever wary of physical contact that didn't involve sex or violence, and correctly guessing this was neither, Faith prevaricated for a moment before reluctantly complying and giving the Watcher her right hand which he moved until it was where his own had been. 'What the hell?' she exclaimed feeling something warm where she could see nothing at all.

'It's cloaked by magic' Wesley told her. 'Only a demon or a human with some degree of mystical ability could even sense it.'

'Since when did I have any magic?' Faith queried.

'You don't but Slayer energy is demonic in origin' Wesley explained. 'I think you may have also worked out why I didn't want Buffy along with us on tonight's excursion too.'

'Because you still don't want her to know about your hobby and you being able to sense this place is a dead giveaway' Faith reasoned.

'Magic isn't my hobby Faith' Wesley replied, letting go of her hand. 'It's something that's in you, something that you can learn to control, or can control you if you're not careful' he warned. 'Come on, let's go in and say hello' he said, feeling along the invisible barrier ahead of them until he found the entrance and stepping on through, disappearing from sight as he did.

'Knowing my luck there's a big hole on the other side I'll fall into' Faith muttered to herself, following on behind. 'I was expecting something classier' she told the watcher as they found themselves in a grotty apartment that would have benefited from new furniture and the occasional clean.

'Cleanliness is next to godliness and the owner of this establishment is a long way from godliness Faith' Wesley replied, looking around and paying extra attention to the pair of pale, strung-out teenagers sprawled on the couch. 'Well maybe Bacchus' he reconsidered, thinking about it.

A door opened and a long haired man with a knowing intensity about him stepped out. 'Me next Rack' one of the teenagers begged.

'Not now' the man responded, eyes still fixed on the newcomers. 'I'd ask how you got in here but I can sense that from way over here Slayer' he told Faith. 'Now you on the other hand are more of an enigma' he added to Wesley. 'Nice aura' he added with the hint of a smirk.

'This the guy?' Faith asked.

'Oh yes' Wesley confirmed, the hairs were standing up on the back of his neck which indicated that the rumours of the man's powers were true. This wasn't some wannabe warlock this was a powerful practitioner of the arts.

'Care to step into my office to discuss whatever it is you've come for?' Rack offered. 'Not that I can't guess.'

'Might as well be civil about it' Wesley agreed. 'At first' he added meaningfully.

Rack smiled as he stepped back into the room where he had emerged from, it wasn't a nice smile by any means and Faith found herself reaching into her jacket pocket for a butterfly knife in case things got nasty. Supposedly this dude was human so killing him wasn't on the cards according to what she knew of being a by-the-book slayer but she figured cutting up on him a little if necessary wasn't too far out-of-line.

'You're the new watcher in town' Rack stated, taking a seat in the chair he favoured. His own room was furnished a bit better than the hallway but it still didn't exactly scream the lavish wealth which could have easily been his if he cared about stuff like that.

'Very perceptive' Wesley replied, choosing to remain standing, Faith taking up a position just behind him to one side as backup. 'It's the accent right?' he asked.

'Well it wasn't the clothes, the attitude or that hint of power you're trying to keep damped down' Rack replied. 'Heard that a few Council types go off the rails sometimes, dabble in things they shouldn't' he continued. 'Matter of fact I've heard along the grapevine that the other watcher already here had himself a misspent youth too' he said.

Wesley shrugged. 'It happens' he replied, more often than the Watcher's Council would care to admit in fact. Ongoing exposure to arcane knowledge was quite the temptation.

'You're something else though' Rack said, intrigued. 'You could have really made something of yourself dude' he said. 'Lots of untapped potential' he added.

'We're not here to talk about me Mr Rack' Wesley responded impatiently.

Rack sighed. 'If you're going to tell me to get out of town don't waste your breath' he responded. 'Having the potential doesn't mean you have the power' he said letting magic arc between his fingers like lightning as a display of his own capabilities.

'I'm not here to duel with magic or bandy words with you' Wesley told the warlock. 'If I wanted you dead I'd be more inclined to shoot you anyway as it happens' he continued, clearly less impressed by Rack's demonstration than the warlock had expected him to be. 'The purpose of this visit is to tell you that Faith here and myself have taken it upon ourselves to stamp out the orpheus trade running between here and Los Angeles and we've heard that you're a conduit to the people concerned' he said.

'I don't deal in that crap' Rack replied. 'What I'm selling is the pure stuff, not some cheap junk adulterated by cheap magic' he declared. 'I trade in power, not drug-induced fantasy.'

'We know' Wesley replied. 'However our information leads us to believe that you do know some of the players involved and can pass on a message for us.'

Rack frowned. 'I might know people who know people' he admitted. 'What do you want passed on to them?' he asked, intrigued enough to ignore the implication he could be used as a messenger-boy.

'The message is that after we stop the trade through Sunnydale anyone that tries to start it up again will regret it' Wesley told him, Faith miming drawing a blade across her throat as an explanation as if one were necessary. 'I don't care if they're human or demon' he said, 'if they try moving orpheus through this town then it's their funeral' he told Rack flatly.

'Don't know if the people who know the people will take that threat too seriously' Rack replied.

'Maybe they will when I tell you where they can find what's left of the three halfbreeds we visited earlier tonight as the first stage in our campaign' Wesley replied, reaching into his leather jacket and then throwing something at Rack which the warlock caught.

Rack looked at what he had caught and couldn't help but be impressed to some degree. It was a small clear plastic baggie containing a clawed finger from some kind of demon and what was left of the bags original contents. 'What happened to the rest of the orph?' he inquired curiously, inspecting the powder now mostly discoloured and caked up with blood from the finger.

'Rats down in the sewer be tripping tonight after what we flushed down there' Faith told him.

'I'll let them know you're serious then' Rack told his guests, dropping the bag onto a nearby table.

'You do that' Wesley replied. 'We dumped the corpses in the lake by the main cemetery' he told Rack, if anyone wants to verify they're there either dredge it or cast a spell looking for them' he advised. 'Come on Faith, we've wasted enough of the man's valuable time' he said, turning to leave.

Faith looked surprised. 'We're leaving?' she asked. 'What about the two junkies outside.'

'If they want to get off on magic than that's their business Faith' Wesley replied. 'We're not the moral guardians of the universe' he said. 'Orpheus is our business because sometimes vampires don't stop feeding just because they've gotten high' he continued. 'What Mr Rack has going here is humans feeding off humans with some magic thrown into the mix' he told her. 'If we tried to save everybody we'd end up saving nobody.'

'He's right babe, fact is you can't even get in here if you haven't gotten yourself into something you shouldn't have already' Rack pointed out to the slayer. 'I'm digging the enlightened attitude man' he told Wesley.

'Just don't do anything that'll get you in my sights, figuratively or literally' Wesley advised before he paused at the door and turned back. 'I don't suppose you've got any spells that can reverse transmogrification do you?'

'Who did you turn into something and what is it?' Rack asked.

'Apparently she did it to herself and she's now a rat' Wesley replied.

Rack smiled knowingly. 'Amy Madison right?' he asked rhetorically. 'I told that girl she shouldn't try stuff she wasn't ready for' he said. 'Girl had potential too, she just overreached herself.'

'You know her?' Wesley responded in mild surprise.

'Helped set her along the road once she realised she'd inherited the gift from her Mom' Rack explained. 'I could have made a lot of that girl but if they don't want to listen then what can you do?'

'There are ways' Wesley replied, eyes flicking towards Faith for a moment. 'So do you have a spell that might help?' he asked again.

'Why does it matter to you?' Rack queried.

Wesley smiled. 'Maybe I'm just a nice guy trying to do a good deed' he suggested.

'Not with that aura Man' Rack responded.

'Okay so maybe I think she's got potential like you do' Wesley offered as an alternate explanation.

Rack chuckled. 'I know there's a lot more going on than that too' he replied. Something about the English dude was screaming "There's something wrong about me, I'm at the centre of some freaky shit going down" but he couldn't place what it was. 'Okay say I give you the knowledge you need, what do I get out of it?' he asked.

'You get to keep your teeth' Faith told the warlock.

'Keep her on a leash Watcher or she might get hurt' Rack told Wesley seriously.

'That's enough Faith' Wesley told his slayer. 'Don't pick fights you're not equipped to win' he advised. 'What do you want for the spell?' he asked Rack.

'How about a taste of some of your power' Rack replied.

'I don't swing that way' Wesley replied. 'Don't believe all the rumours you hear about English Boarding Schools' he continued wryly. 'How about a couple of pages photocopied from the Devandiré Sibylline Codex instead?' he offered.

'You're shitting me?' Rack responded in surprise.

'You must know that the Council has the only known copy' Wesley noted. 'This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you.'

'That's way more than the spell is worth, you've got to know that' Rack observed doubtfully.

'Think of it as me putting you on retainer as well then' Wesley told him. 'I might need the services of a good warlock again someday' he continued. 'Good in terms of ability anyway, I don't think you fit the morality definition' he said without too much disapproval evident from his tone.

'I'll want to see the pages first' Rack insisted.

'I'll let you have one page before you give me the spell and you can have the second after it works' Wesley replied. 'I'll be back in a day or two, have the spell ready to collect and please don't think about double-crossing me, I'm not the forgiving type and you'd only be cutting off your only access to occult materials you couldn't possibly lay your hands on otherwise.'

'Later Watcher' Rack called after him as he left. 'With a couple of pages of the Codex to trade I can get anything I want out of Drake in LA, lay my hands on some serious power' he said to himself with satisfaction. 'I knew setting myself up in this little town would pay off for me eventually.'

Five minutes later as they walked back towards the centre of town Faith was still grumbling about how they had handled things with the warlock. 'Honestly Faith sometimes you're as bad as Buffy when you try and make the world black and white instead of shades of grey' Wesley replied to her latest comments patiently. 'Real life isn't so accommodating, sometimes we just have to go with the flow and let somebody get away with doing something unsavoury in order to benefit the greater good' he said.

'I've said it before and I'll say it again' Faith began. 'You're the least watcher-like Watcher I've ever met' she told him.

'I'll choose to take that as a complement' Wesley responded.

Faith shrugged. 'I said it and _I'm_ not even sure whether it was or not' she said.

'Probably a good thing that girls are allowed to be fickle by convention then' Wesley replied.

'Why didn't you ask him if he could help with the spell we need to get Willow the Bloodsucker home?' Faith wanted to know.

'We're very nearly there with that ourselves' Wesley replied, 'having the cooperation, albeit unwilling, of a former Vengeance Demon plus our own researches means we're only a few days away from being able to go ahead with the plan' he said. 'No need to bring in outside help and he'd have upped the price higher than I was willing to pay in any case.'

'What, you mean more pages from a book?' Faith queried.

'A very powerful and extremely rare book' Wesley told her. 'If he ever wants more of it he knows he'll have to not make too many waves in town or do us a very big favour in the future' he said. 'One hand washes the other, sometimes it's better to tie people down in bonds of mutual self-interest that'll stop them straying too far from the straight and narrow than it is to go around trying to achieve some ephemeral ideal of moral purity.'

'The amoral Yoda speaks' Faith replied, rolling her eyes.

'Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate can lead to some really great sex' Wesley deliberately misquoted expecting her to laugh but when she stared at him blankly he realised that the damn movie hadn't been released yet, lousy time-travel.

'So when do I get my share of the dough we took from those demons?' Faith inquired.

'When I've finished counting it and determined how much I'll let you have each week' Wesley told her.

Faith stopped walking, Wesley doing likewise. 'You're giving me an _allowance_?' she exclaimed. 'Taken from money we stole from demon drug dealers?' she added all too loudly.

'Shush' Wesley told her, looking around. 'Firstly if I gave it to you all at once it might raise too many questions, not least from Giles, and secondly you're lucky I don't just take the lot in lieu of the rent you're not paying.'

'Oh come on, how about a couple of grand I can splash out with' Faith wheedled.

Wesley thought about that. 'You can have a couple of hundred to buy new clothes with' he offered.

'This is wicked unfair Wes' Faith protested. 'I killed two of those demon junk-peddlers, you only got one and you think _you_ get to decide what happens with the spoils?' she asked rhetorically.

'If you go through life expecting it to be fair and equitable then you're in for one long disappointment I'm afraid' Wesley told her. 'Considering the gig was my idea splitting the proceeds fifty-fifty seems more than generous from my side' he continued. 'I'm not depriving you of any of your less than hard-earned reward, I'm just ensuring that you don't splurge out and blow it all at once.'

'Should have known better than to expect any different from a Brit' Faith muttered.

'I thought we'd agreed you'd stop with the feigned Boston Irish grudge in return for me letting you take off Saint Patrick's day a couple of weeks back' Wesley responded. 'Perhaps next year you can make it extra special and put green food dye in Angel's blood?' he suggested sardonically.

Faith decided to drop the subject, she'd try again when he was in a better mood. 'I'm still surprised Angel agreed to look after Red's bloodsucking twin' she said, starting to walk again.

'I believe a combination of Giles pleas for a few days off and Buffy's powers of persuasion won out in the end though I doubt Angel is happy about it' Wesley replied, soon catching up with Faith again. 'Willow the vampire is exceedingly hard work to cope with.'

'Yeah, just the hitting on everything in sight gets old fast even if the complaining eventually dried up' Faith agreed. 'Say do you think that Red couldn't be a little AC/DC herself?' she wondered.

'It's possible I suppose, although she does seem very attached to her boyfriend' Wesley replied, laughing inwardly.

'Puppy love' Faith joked. 'Geddit? Puppy love, small werewolf...'

'I got it Faith' Wesley interrupted her.

'Then you should have laughed' Faith complained.

'Perhaps we should check in on Crawford Street and see how Angel is coping' Wesley suggested.

'There's no way she could break out of those chains he's got her fixed to the wall with' Faith replied.

'I wasn't concerned she might escape but rather that he might need a short break' Wesley explained. 'I think we can spare half and hour to give the man some respite don't you?'

'Yeah, I guess' Faith agreed, it wasn't like there was much vamp activity around anyway. 'I wonder if B and Fang have ever used those chains for fun-time themselves?' she pondered aloud, hoping to bait Wesley. 'I mean when we were securing Vamp-Red B seemed to know just how to put on the restraints like she'd had plenty of practice.'

Wesley frowned. 'I suppose with Buffy being the slayer and Angel the vampire he would be more likely to be the submissive' he replied, as if considering the question in depth though his smirk gave it away.

'One day I'm going to find a way to shock you' Faith told him. 'Something that even that twisted mind in there can't cope with' she declared.

'Wear a pretty dress and use proper grammar' Wesley replied. 'I simply can't imagine such an unthinkable turn of events' he said.

'Bite me Evil Yoda' Faith replied.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

_Rack was a powerful warlock first seen in BtVS episode 6:10 Wrecked although Amy knew him from before she became a rat so he must have already been town before 1999._

_The Devandiré Sibylline Codex was an extremely rare tome with the Watcher's Council having the only one known to be in existence. I can see Rack being very interested in getting hold of some of it._

_Orpheus is a mystically enhanced drug which humans take before vampires feed on them (they both get off on it). Angel lived in a Mansion on Crawford street whilst living in Sunnydale. It came with its own chains making it a useful place to secureVampire Willow after Giles got sick of her._


	10. Chapter 10

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

_

* * *

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**Library – Sunnydale High – April 5th 1999**

'Just think of it as a dry-run Rupert' Wesley advised the other watcher who still looked more than a little doubtful about the situation. 'If they can't cast a spell like this one successfully then we can't really think to meddle with more powerful magics' he said as they watched Willow and Michael Czajak sketch out runes in chalk on a large linoleum mat which had been laid down in the largest open space.

Giles grumbled. 'I'm still not completely convinced we should be playing with these forces at all' he muttered to himself just loud enough to be overheard.

'Would you prefer to end up stuck dealing with a bisexual, nymphomaniac vampiric dominatrix for the rest of your life?' Wesley asked wryly. 'Willow continues to object to simply staking her doppelganger and our options are fairly limited otherwise.'

'I'm certain that my life was less complicated and stressful before you turned up' Giles told the younger watcher.

'I suspect you're looking back on your time on the hellmouth through rose-tinted spectacles' Wesley replied, albeit highly polished ones. 'For one thing didn't Buffy your charge actually _die_ once?' he pointed out undiplomatically. For that matter if I hadn't come here like I did this time around you'd have ended up dealing with a gigantic demon snake before long, not that I'm ever going to get the credit I deserve for pre-empting that turn of events, Wesley thought to himself sadly.

'Well it's not like she _stayed_ dead' Giles defended his record.

'Unlike Kendra who was also technically your responsibility while she was here' Wesley noted before pausing. 'I'm sorry' he apologised. 'That was uncalled for' he admitted.

Giles looked angry. 'Yes it was' he agreed.

'I hope you realise than keeping the girls alive is a very high priority for me' Wesley said awkwardly.

'The fact it's not your _highest_ priority is about the only thing you have in common with the majority of the Watcher's Council' Giles responded curtly, 'and is, in my opinion, one notion that you _should_ have abandoned when you took it upon yourself to try and re-write hundreds of years of tradition' he told him forcefully.

'Protecting the world from the creatures and forces that would tear it asunder must be our foremost goal with every other consideration secondary or tertiary by default' Wesley counter-argued. 'Frankly that's the only thing the council got right' he maintained.

'If I knew that wasn't just inexperience and misguided youthful enthusiasm talking I'd worry about you Wesley I really would' Giles told him sadly.

Inexperience my arse, Wesley thought to himself. 'Where's have those blasted girls got to anyway' he asked rhetorically, checking his watch.

'Buffy said she'd get here as soon as she could after dinner with her mother' Giles replied. 'As for Faith your guess is as good as mine.'

'Well we need at least _one_ of them here in case the whole thing goes disastrously wrong and we accidentally summon a demon from one dimension or another' Wesley said.

'I thought you said you were confident the incantation wouldn't be affected by the usual Hellmouth instability' Giles responded suspiciously.

'It shouldn't be but there's no sense in being incautious is there?' Wesley replied, frowning. 'Tell me has anyone ever queried why yourself and a number of teenagers are oft to be found hanging around the school library at night after even the janitor has gone home?' he asked curiously.

'People in this town are amazingly credulous' Giles told him. 'I usually spin tales about a private out-of-hours book clubs and tutoring' he explained.

'Credulous you say?' Wesley repeated quizzically.

'I call it the Sunnydale Effect' Giles told him. 'It's also the reason that nobody ever seems to question why a leading cause of death here is supposedly people getting stabbed in the neck as they fall onto barbeque forks.'

'Fascinating, I might have to do some research on the subject' Wesley remarked. 'Oh, uninvited guests how unexpected' he added sardonically as Xander arrived along with Oz carrying what appeared to be a couple of large pizzas.

'Hey gang' Xander greeted the room. 'I bring one with anchovies one without' he said brightly, depositing the pizzas on the nearest table. 'Where's the Buffster?' he asked.

'On her way I'm sure' Giles replied.

'So are you going to miss your pet rat?' Xander asked Willow as she began to chalk a very large pentacle inside the runes she had already placed on the linoleum.

'I think I can safely say I won't miss clearing out her cage' Willow replied, smiling up at him. 'Hey Oz' she greeted her boyfriend.

'Hey' Oz replied, she looked busy so he didn't try for a kiss and he wasn't exactly the loquacious type. 'This is safe right?' he asked Giles seriously. 'For Willow I mean' he added.

'It should be' Giles replied.

'I'm really excited' Michael said, getting up and leaving Willow to finish the last of the work because she was better at drawing than him. 'This is meaty stuff, magic wise' he said trying not to sound too enthusiastic.

'Hi Mike, have you asked that chick out yet?' Xander inquired. 'The weird, quiet one that wears even more black makeup than you do I mean.'

'It's _Michael_ not Mike' the young warlock corrected Xander sternly. 'And we're going to see Bella Morte in a couple of weeks' he continued, resisting the urge to smile because it would ruin his image.

'Beautiful Death?' Giles translated from Italian, confused.

'It's a band' Oz explained. 'Gothic, darkwave stuff' he added.

'Ah' Giles understood, at least partially.

Wesley caught the smell of the pizza and knew he'd relent and have some later but he resisted the urge to do so immediately for risk of encouraging Xander to bring snacks along every time they were supposed to be doing something important. To Wesley's mild surprise and satisfaction the boy had actually taken his advice and had enrolled in a martial arts course intended to try and increase his utility to the group. It would be a while before he was proficient of course but it was a start at least and you couldn't expect everything to happen all at once. 'Do you want me to go through the pronunciations again?' Wesley checked with Michael who was now reading through the words to the spell written on the parchment Rack had provided in return for the pages from the Codex.

'No, I've got it covered' the amateur warlock replied confidently.

'This is going to be so cool' Willow said, smile lighting up the room as she finished the pentacle and got up off the floor herself. 'And good for Amy, we shouldn't forget about Amy' she added, looking to the cage where she was rubbing her little paws together oblivious to what was about to happen.

'Oh jeez I hoped you might have at least started up on the Latin by now' Buffy said, finally turning up. 'If I'd known there was going to be pizza I wouldn't have forced down so much of Mom's latest experiments in potato salad' she complained, spotting it.

'Guess I'll have to eat your share then' Xander responded. 'Oh yeah and you'll all need to chip in a couple of bucks to pay me and Oz back for the cheese on bread' he announced.

Wesley checked his watch again. 'I'm going to be having words with Faith again about her continuing inability to keep good time' he declared. 'Exactly how are you planning to keep the rat in the centre of the pentacle after you remove her from her cage out of interest' he asked Willow who had taken it upon herself to organise everything after he presented her with the spell.

'Cheese' Willow explained.

'Ah but does hers come with toppings' Xander asked rhetorically, opening the first pizza box and helping himself to a slice.

'You know it _is_ a school night' Willow noted. 'We should probably start soon' she advised. Willow didn't like to show up to class all yawns and wandering concentration.

'I suppose so' Wesley agreed. 'Thank you Buffy for being the diligent one and turning up when asked to' he addressed the slayer, giving her a nod of approval.

Buffy smiled with satisfaction, one up on Faith she thought to herself. Little Miss Leather Jacket, Bad Attitude and Tight Jeans was probably all over some loser in a bar right now she thought.

Faith had actually run into two vampires attacking a young woman although most of the delay wasn't because of their quick dispatch it was because during the fight she had dropped the present she had gotten Wesley on impulse and it took her over twenty minutes to find it again. It wasn't much, just a nice pen because she figured he'd like a nice pen, but the damn thing was in a thin black case which was a bitch to see in the dark.

When she finally got to the school and entered the library she was greeted by a bright flash of light and saw a naked girl suddenly appear from seemingly nowhere in the centre of the room.

Amy's shriek when she realised she wasn't wearing any clothes was followed by every male in the room spinning around to face away with a couple of them blushing.

'Can someone give her my jacket please' Wesley requested, taking it off and holding it out whilst still looking towards the wall.

'Kinda short Wes' Buffy told him.

'There's a long raincoat in my office if you'd like to give her that instead' Giles spoke up. He was one of those blushing. If the Principal walked in right now and found him in here with a bunch of teenagers, one being a naked girl standing on an occult symbol, his career would end abruptly he thought.

'What's going on?' Amy finally managed to ask.

'You turned yourself into a rat' Willow explained. 'We just turned you back' she said. 'It um, it took a while' she admitted.

'What, you mean like days?' Amy asked, trying to cover herself as best she could with her hands.

'A little longer' Willow replied awkwardly. 'It's April, you were a rat for three months' she told Amy apologetically.

'Three months!' Amy exclaimed, snatching the raincoat from Buffy when she arrived with it.

'Hi Amy' Michael said.

'Don't you _dare_ turn around Czajak' Amy replied, pulling on the coat.

'Does that apply to the rest of us?' Xander asked, trying not to laugh. Oz found the situation a little less funny because he always ended up naked himself after his full moon related hairy episodes, sometimes with people there to see.

'You bet your ass it does' Amy replied.

Faith ignored the reunion, she hadn't ever really known the witch very well pre-rat anyway. 'Sorry I was late Wes' she apologised, walking over to him as he finished putting his jacket back on. 'I had to dust some vamps' she explained.

'There must have been a multitude of them for you to be _this_ tardy' Wesley replied curtly.

Faith glared at him, moving so he could see her despite him still facing away from Amy. 'I would have been here earlier but I dropped this thing I got for you and I had to find it' she snarled, almost throwing the small and now scuffed plastic box at him. 'I saw at the Mall, don't bother to say thanks or anything' she continued angrily.

Wesley was taken aback. He couldn't think how to reply so he opened the box instead and found a quite nice fountain pen inside. 'Thank you' he said, surprised that she would get him something with her "allowance" especially after their argument regarding it.

'You're welcome' Faith responded through gritted teeth, her expression still showing her objection to the way he had greeted her.

'Can we turn around yet, the view of the bookshelves is losing its attraction' Giles requested.

Amy made certain that she wasn't showing any flesh she minded them seeing. 'Go ahead' she replied eventually.

'Nice to see you again Amy' Xander told her. 'Without the fur I mean' he continued. 'Looked good without the coat too' he couldn't resist adding.

'Xander' Buffy warned him sharply in rebuke.

'I just said out loud what the other guys were thinking' Xander defended himself.

Giles coughed, took off his glasses and began polishing them. 'Yes Amy, it's very nice to have you back' he said.

Amy looked around. 'Who's that?' she asked, pointing at Wesley.

'New watcher' Buffy explained.

'Wesley Wyndam-Pryce at your service' he introduced himself formally.

'We call him Wes' Xander told her. 'If you clocked up how much time that would save you in a lifetime you'd realise why' he said.

'He got us the spell we needed to change you back to you' Willow told Amy. 'Michael and I couldn't quite figure it out ourselves' she admitted. 'We're really tried though didn't we?' she asked him to confirm.

'We really did' Michael concurred. 'We thought we had it once but in the end we only managed to turn your fur pink for a day instead' he confessed.

'I can taste cheese' Amy remarked, sticking out her tongue.

'It was good cheese' Willow told her. 'I bought it specially' she said. 'I guess you can keep what's left of it as well as the cage over there' she said, indicating where it lay.

'You kept me in a _cage_?' Amy responded aghast.

'Didn't have much choice but I got you a wheel and everything' Willow replied.

'Yeah, you might find yourself hankering to visit a gym and put a couple of hours in on the treadmill every day for a while' Xander joked. 'Don't complain, you should see the lack of amenities the other Willow gets in her cupboard' he added seriously.

'Other Willow?' Amy repeated in confusion.

'Sorry guys but I really need to get home soon' Michael realised. 'Like I said it's great to have you back in one piece and on two legs Amy' he told her, feeling immensely pleased at his part in that. 'I'll take a couple of slices of pizza home with me if that's okay' he asked Xander, getting out his wallet to pay his share.

'I think somebody should look after Amy tonight' Willow suggested, she looked understandably dazed. 'I can't really do that though because my parents aren't big on houseguests' she said apologetically as Michael left with his pizza.

'I've got a spare room' Buffy offered. 'Mom wouldn't mind I think.'

'The reason why I turned myself into a rat was to escape being burned alive by your Mom' Amy responded immediately. 'No thanks' she said with finality.

'She was acting under the influence of a demon' Buffy defended her mother. 'She wasn't herself and she's all better now' the slayer insisted.

'I think you'll find that from the young ladies perspective those events took place minutes not months ago' Wesley interjected. 'Faith, you've got a couch in your room that folds out into a bed, perhaps Ms. Madison can stay with you tonight and attempt to put her life back together tomorrow?' he suggested.

'Come on Wes, other than you she knows everyone else here a lot better than she does me' Faith protested.

'At least make the offer Faith' Wesley told her. 'It's the decent thing to do.'

'Fine, geez' Faith conceded, he was the one that paid her rent at the Sunspot Hotel after all and letting the chick crash there for one night shouldn't be too much of a pain in the ass. 'If you want you can stay with me tonight, I've probably got some clothes you can borrow too.'

A thought occurred to Giles. 'I'm afraid that given the number of unexplained disappearances that occur in Sunnydale it's likely that your father has given up hope for your return by now' he told Amy, trying to not to sound too heartless about it. 'You might want to concoct a plausible story as to where you've been all this time' he continued. 'I'm certain he'll be overjoyed to see you.'

Amy herself wasn't so sure, her father had always seen a lot of her mother in her and that wasn't really a good thing.

'Say you ran off with a drummer in a band' Faith suggested. 'Bastard broke your heart so you've come back.'

'Autobiographical Faith?' Wesley wondered.

'Kinda' Faith replied. Her old boyfriend Kenny had been a drummer back in Boston.

'What am I going to do about school?' Amy asked herself out loud. 'Okay, priorities all messed up' she realised immediately. 'Is it really okay to stay with you tonight?' she asked Faith. 'I need time to think' she said, looking off into space as her circumstances dawned on her in detail.

'Yeah' Faith replied. 'If we're lucky Wes will stretch to buying us both breakfast in the morning' she said.

'By which she means I'm staying in the motel room next door and she has a habit of rudely waking me up by kicking on my door and asking me to take her to a diner' Wesley added, not wanting Amy to get the wrong idea.

'Still not found a decent apartment then?' Xander asked Wesley.

'I've been trying to knock down the asking price on one but so far without success' Wesley replied. 'I am however confident that given the general downward trend in property values here I'll be able to move out of the Motel soon.'

'Crap, I'll have to buy my own breakfast' Faith realised. 'I shouldn't have got you that pen' she told Wesley, frowning.

'I should be going too' Willow said.

'I've got the van, I'll drop you off home after I drop off Xander' Oz told her. 'Do you want me to get rid that thing too because if Xander helps me roll it up and carry it we can stick it in the back of the van and take it to the garbage dump tomorrow' he offered.

'That would be very helpful Oz thank you' Giles replied. 'Do take care to rub off the chalk first though won't you?' he reminded them.

'I don't suppose you could give Faith and Amy a lift to the Motel in your car could you Rupert' Wesley asked. 'I've got my bike but they'll need transportation.'

'Dudes got a point' Faith remarked to Amy. 'If you were sat on the back of his bike and that coat blew off the local PD would haul you in for indecent exposure and Wes would get charged with something that'll mean he won't be able to get within a mile of the school here ever again' she said.

'Which is itself good encouragement for me not to speed on the way to your hotel with Amy in the car' Giles observed. 'Especially given that the coat she has on has my name in it.'

Buffy decided to give Willow a hug. 'Good job in de-ratting Amy' she told her friend. 'I'm proud of you.'

'I think Michael provided most of the power to be honest' Willow replied, self-depreciatingly. 'He's been playing with magic longer than me.'

'If not necessarily a full deck judging by his clothes' Xander chipped in as he helped Oz roll up the linoleum.

'Goths are good people too Xander' Willow chided him.

'Yeah, I hear that they don't even sleep hanging upside down like bats these days' Oz added.

'Do you think I should invite Amy around to dinner once she's got over the fear that my Mom will try burning her at the stake again?' Buffy asked Willow. 'Mom would want to apologise about that in person I'll bet.'

'Might be awkward, I'd leave it a few weeks' Willow suggested, thinking about it.

'Yeah' Buffy decided.

'So do you want to keep the cage as a souvenir or let the guys dump that too?' Faith asked Amy.

'Dump it' Amy replied. 'And the cheese' she added. 'I don't even _like_ cheese' she said with distaste.

'Okay, I'll carry it out to the van' Faith said, retrieving it with Amy following on behind starting to ask her questions about events in town the last three months.

Wesley watched Faith and Amy. Now that's a possible friendship that should be encouraged, he thought to himself. Amy Madison had potential, and she ended up verging on outright evil in the original timeline he recalled. Buffy had Willow, maybe Faith would benefit greatly from having a witch friend of her own? If nothing else if he was going to try and keep Faith from going off the rails then doing the same for Amy was an equally beneficial objective.

If nothing else being a loner or outsider was depressing Wesley knew. If, as was likely, Faith was never going to feel truly like part of Buffy's entourage then perhaps what she really needed was a pseudo "Scoobie Gang" of her own he thought, his mind going over new possibilities for improving the course of events.

Wesley pursed his lips, increasingly lost in contemplation as his mind shifted into high gear though perhaps lacking a clear direction of travel. Right, he thought firmly, now that she's probably not going to end up a vampire on her graduation day Harmony could theoretically fill the Cordelia role as a hanger-on perhaps but that still left the others he pondered. He didn't favour the idea of Faith getting romantically involved with vampires so that at least should be avoided as an objective but as a greater problem where the bloody hell was he going to find the replacement comedy relief with carpentry skills and another laconic werewolf he wondered to himself idly, scratching the stubble on his chin.#

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**_Note from the Author:_**

_Amy Madison ended up probably the second most powerful witch we know of in the Buffyverse. Certainly by Season 8 (the comics) she had become a major antagonist of both Buffy and Willow in particular. In some ways she the equivalent of Faith being a witch that went off the rails and ended up on the wrong side as opposed to a slayer._

_Originally Amy wasn't particularly evil although after finding she had inherited her abilities from her mother she did exploit them for personal gain. She turned herself into a rat in episode 3:11 Gingerbread when Buffy's mother Joyce and a number of other Sunnydale residents unknowingly acted under demonic influence were going to burn her and others tainted by the occult at the stake. Willow eventually managed to turn Amy human again permanently in episode 6.09 Smashed, she gets out from behind bars three years earlier this time around!_


	11. Chapter 11

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

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**California Physics Institute – Los Angeles – April 14th 1999**

Professor Oliver Seidel often stayed late to mark papers on a Wednesday night but he had already started to regret doing so tonight even before his current predicament. To be fair it wasn't like Laurie his TA frequently had something better to do with her time than stay on as well, helping him complete the task more quickly, but it was damn inconvenient. This was particularly true tonight because if she _had_ been here she might have provided a useful distraction enabling the professor to escape the lunatic now pinning his head to his desk with the barrel of a silenced handgun, the muzzle pressed against his left temple.

'Please don't try anything stupid' the maniac with the British accent instructed the academic from behind. 'If you provided me with any kind of excuse to pistol-whip you it would give me great pleasure to oblige' he added coldly.

'What do you want?' Seidel asked, right cheek pressed up against the paper on his desk he had been marking when the intruder appeared.

'Information mostly, perhaps a little justice' the man replied, 'but depending on the level of your cooperation I might leave off on the latter' he said.

'You must have the wrong man' Seidel told him.

The intruder chuckled evilly. 'Doctor Oliver Seidel BS. MS. PhD, Professor of Theoretical Physics' he said. 'No you're exactly the man I came to see' he replied.

Seidel couldn't understand why a foreign gunman would be doing this to him, it certainly didn't seem like a robbery and it certainly wasn't a random assault. 'Is someone paying you to do this?' he asked. 'I mean I know some of my colleagues here and others working in the same field at other universities don't like me' he continued. 'Is it Cambridge?' he asked, that would explain the accent although it was a little hard to believe that somebody at the Cavendish Laboratory would send a hit-man after him.

'Don't be ridiculous' the intruder responded. 'For one thing I went to Oxford and would never associate with those heathens' he stated. 'No Oliver, I can call you Oliver can't I?' he asked rhetorically, 'I'm here regarding the tendency of your more able students to disappear' he said. 'Oh, seeing as how we're now on such friendly first-name terms you can call me Wesley.'

Oliver Seidel blinked. 'Why would you think that I had anything to do with the unexplained disappearance of a small number of my students?' he asked nervously.

'Mostly because I know you've been sending them to other dimensions through portals' the gunman said, removing the pistol from Seidel's head and walking around his desk to the other side, taking a seat across from him and casually aiming the pistol at the academic's chest as Seidel slowly straightened up in his own chair.

'I don't know what you're talking about' Seidel blustered. 'This is ridiculous' he declared.

The man calling himself Wesley pulled back the hammer of his automatic pistol with his thumb cocking it. 'There's a round already chambered' he said dispassionately. 'Please don't give me a little-needed excuse to put a hole in something non-vital' he requested with considerable menace.

Seidel looked at the black pistol with the silencer on it and then the man's expression and demeanour; he certainly didn't look like he was bluffing especially what with the black leather gloves meaning he wouldn't be leaving any fingerprints behind. 'Do you want money?' he asked. 'I have a little money' he said.

'As I said before I'm here for information' Wesley replied. 'Specifically everything you know regarding inter-dimensional portals with particular emphasis on the one you sent Winifred Burkle to' he said.

'Winifred?' Seidel repeated quizzically.

'Lovely girl, brilliant mind, perhaps a bit too much of a yammerer but if that's really the worst you can honestly say about a person then they must be a decent one' Wesley remarked. 'You sent her to another reality because of petty jealousy of her intellect three years ago in case you've forgotten' he reminded the physicist. 'Unfortunately I require your assistance if I want to bring her back quickly and safely' he said.

'I don't know how to do that' Seidel replied. 'Bring her back I mean' he said. 'Not that I'm admitting doing what you say' he added quickly.

'Oh, once I get there I know how to get back' Wesley replied confidently, 'and as a matter of fact I've already recovered the book you used to send her there from the library' he said. 'It's just that your greater understanding of the process will reduce the chances of any mistakes being made and additionally might aid in the successful carrying out of another trans-dimensional trip I've got on the cards.'

Seidel looked at the man. 'You're serious?' he asked incredulously.

'Oh deadly serious I assure you' Wesley replied, smiling. 'Emphasis on the deadly I hope you've realised' he added, flourishing his pistol. 'For a start I know you keep useful incantations tucked inside the books on the shelves behind you so I'll take them off your hands' he said. 'If you were to start and try and read them aloud to summon through some help, a Voynok demon for example, I would of course immediately shoot you between the eyes' he vowed.

'You're insane' Seidel told him.

'That's debatable I'll admit, at least from your perspective not knowing the full facts, but isn't it in your interests _not_ to provoke the crazy man with the gun' Wesley responded reasonably. 'I do know more than enough about the subject of portals to know if you're trying to mislead me incidentally' he advised the professor. 'Just because I might not be able to formulate an original equation or spell doesn't mean I can't follow the maths or rhythm structure of them once they're presented to me' he said.

'And if I give you what you want, hand over everything I have, you'll just leave?' Seidel checked.

'Are you particularly likely to report me to the police for stealing your occult literature which will of course have your fingerprints all over it plus notes written in your own handwriting?' Wesley asked rhetorically. 'Somehow I think that in your field having the news spread that you meddle in such arcane unscientific matters would be a tad detrimental to your career' he supposed, 'even if nobody believed stories about you banishing students to Hell Dimensions.'

Professor Seidel thought about that. 'You'd trust me not to talk about this?' he queried.

'I'd trust you not to commit academic suicide' Wesley replied evenly.

Seidel thought about that, the man wouldn't want to murder him unless he had to in a state that had the death penalty and logically if he believed the professor would keep his mouth shut why risk it? 'Okay I'll give you what you want' Seidel agreed, relaxing a little.

'Good, good' Wesley replied, leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs, pistol now resting comfortably in his lap in a less threatening manner. 'Feel free to move around, just not too suddenly' he advised, 'you wouldn't want to spook me and accidentally get your first-class brain ventilated' he warned in an all-too friendly manner.

'I'll need to go to my books, open a few drawers and cupboards' Seidel told him.

'Go ahead but just in case you've got some weapon hidden in one of them the chances of you being able to use it before I killed you is remote in the extreme' Wesley told him. 'I'm really quite the proficient marksman' he added without false modesty.

'I just want this over and done with' Seidel told him honestly. 'I won't try anything' he promised.

'Glad to hear it' Wesley responded, smiling again. 'Do go ahead now' he prompted, causing Seidel to begin gathering what the man with the gun wanted.

Wesley had known this would be the right time to visit Los Angeles, run a few errands and tie up a few loose ends. The demons whose blood could result in developing telepathy were due in Sunnydale right around now and he really didn't want to be about for that, it was bad enough the first time having Buffy read his lascivious thoughts about Cordelia, he certainly didn't want anyone to find out he was a time-traveller with an agenda. Visiting Lorne while he was here was alas not an option for a similar reason, although it would have been nice to see him. A careless whistle or the idle humming of a few bars and Wesley's aura would have screamed at the anagogic demon that something was very, _very_ wrong with the English stranger so he reluctantly had to scratch an evening at Caritas off his to-do list.

More annoying however at a base level was that Wesley couldn't risk attracting the attention of Wolfram & Hart so the temptation to drop in on Holland Manners mansion and blow his head off, or sabotage the brakes on Lindsey MacDonald's car couldn't be succumbed to.

The more changes you make, the more the ripples spread and the less predictable the future would become, Wesley knew. He needed to achieve most of his more important goals early before the stage was reached where the future was too far removed from his own experiences for them to be a reliable measure of outcomes but conversely if he tried to do everything in a matter of weeks or months it was certain his twisting of things would be noticed. It wasn't just Wolfram & Hart either, the Oracles of the Powers-That-Be would presumably realise something was up eventually given their own ability to reshape time, and there were other unaffiliated beings blessed (or cursed) with precognition that might notice unexplained anomalies that would cause questions to be asked.

Got to try and stay under the radar as much as possible, Wesley thought to himself as Seidel hurriedly continued to pull together all the notes he had on portals and began writing out quick explanations of the more difficult concepts onto a notepad. 'Your cooperation is duly noted, thank you' Wesley told him politely.

'I just don't understand how you found out about this' Seidel commented as he continued to work, opening a filing cabinet to pull out a folder containing his latest theories on combining the use of demonic runes with modern technology. It might even be possible to send someone a text message on their cellphone that would open a portal under their feet if he was right about the nuances of the Scrsqwrn dialect, letter to symbol substitutions and techno-mystical fusions.

'It's not what you know, or who you know it's about _when_ you know' Wesley replied cryptically.

Eventually Seidel finished his task, it took another five minutes including the annotations of notes onto some of the documents. 'If you say you've already got the book from the library then this is about all I can give you' he said, passing Wesley part of the paperwork. 'The basics are there, you'll find the detailed explanations in the folders and on the notes' he said. 'That's it right?' he checked. 'You'll take what you want and leave now?'

Wesley looked over the first page of what he had been handed. 'Very interesting stuff' he said. 'Quite groundbreaking really, if unfortunately only used for entirely nefarious and selfish purposes' he added in reproach.

'You've gotten what you said you came for now please leave' Seidel told him more forcefully.

Wesley placed the paperwork he was holding on top of the rest the professor had gathered. He was about to say something when his mobile starting ringing and reached to take it out of his pocket. 'If you could be quiet for a moment while I take this' he requested, putting the phone to his ear and pressing the button to receive the call.

Wesley listened for a moment. 'Faith is telepathic you say?' he said into the cell-phone. 'How bizarre, I'm sorry I'm not there Rupert... no really my mind isn't quite as unsuitable for an impressionable teenage girl to delve through as you might think, don't let the motorcycle fool you' he joked then paused to listen again. 'Hmmm, yes, from my memory of that text I agree with your assessment, it could be extremely dangerous for her if this is allowed to continue but at least it sounds like you've determined that there is a cure available and I'm glad Buffy is treating finding the other demon as her highest priority' he said, slightly amused by the expression on Seidel's face as he listened in on half of the outlandish conversation. 'Faith found out the school dinner lady was going to poison all the students?' Wesley said, feigning total surprise. 'Well that's a positive outcome of her condition at least, please do tell Faith I'm sorry I'm not there but I'll be back as soon as I can. Goodbye Rupert and thank you for letting me know. I'm only grateful she's in such capable hands' he told the other watcher.

Seidel had started looking around while the Englishman was distracted but simply couldn't see a way out of this other than hoping the man would honour his word. 'My apologies' Wesley told him, pocketing the cell phone again. 'Trouble back home' he explained.

'Whatever else you're into I don't want to know' Seidel replied sincerely, it was surely safer that way.

Wesley smiled. 'But I have been so itching to talk to someone without restriction' he replied. 'Interesting story with the dinner lady, it was Mulligan Stew that she was spiking with rat poison, would have killed dozens at least if not for Buffy, or rather Faith this time around' he corrected himself then paused. 'Did you know that in golf a Mulligan is when you take another go at a shot because you messed up the first time?' he asked rhetorically, veering the conversation off unpredictably. 'Quite outside the rules of course but as a concept it does have much appeal' he continued 'Faith being telepathic for a while not Buffy does throw an interesting twist into events however' he remarked, looking thoughtful. 'It'll be fascinating to witness how the aftermath plays out.'

Seidel nodded slowly, the man was clearly quite mad he thought to himself. Well-informed about things he shouldn't be but obviously still a few cans short of a six-pack as his students would say. 'So are you leaving now?' he asked.

'No rest for the wicked' Wesley replied smiling. 'There is of course still the matter of conscience to contend with however.'

'Conscience?' Seidel repeated nervously.

'Yes well, you see you've already done away with several of your students and if I let you get away with it any others suffering the same fate in the future would be my fault' Wesley explained. 'Also after I rescue Fred and she finds out you were responsible for sending her to Pylea she'll want to kill you herself, and she's such a nice person that even having your sorry life on her own conscience would bother her immensely once her anger died down.'

'Oh God' Seidel gasped as he realised where this was leading.

'Thanks again for the information, invaluable stuff' Wesley told him before raising his pistol and shooting him twice in the chest, aiming for his heart.

Wesley looked down at the body now lying behind the desk. 'I had considered letting you go tonight and putting a bullet into you a few weeks from now at long range with a high powered rifle I stole a couple of days ago' he told the corpse. 'It seemed like a good opportunity to lay my hands on one whilst simultaneously preventing an attempted suicide with it' he said. 'Decided to deal with you at a more personal level though, more civilised somehow' he said. 'Now don't complain, we both know you deserved it' he added, unscrewing the silencer from his pistol and returning both to his jacket pockets before picking up the ejected brass casings and pocketing those too.

'A very productive little visit to Los Angeles I believe' Wesley said with satisfaction, gathering up the papers. 'I'm sure the girls will be pleased with their collapsible swords, Emil always comes through quickly if you're willing to pay over the odds' he continued. 'Next time I'm here I'll have to drop in on Gunn's neighbourhood and deal with his little vampire problem a year early' he decided. 'I'm sure Faith will enjoy getting out of Sunnydale for a little field trip' he considered, heading towards the door.

Wesley paused by the doorway. 'Ever since I cut off Lilah's head I seem to spend a disturbing amount of time talking to corpses' he realised. 'I hope that isn't a sign of some deeper psychological issues' he said to himself, frowning as he let himself out of the office and closed the door behind him.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

_Professor Oliver Seidel was a physicist who had an interesting method of dealing with any of his students he thought might outshine him, he banished them to a hell dimension. We met Seidel in AtS episode 4:05 Supersymmetry when we found out he was responsible for Fred ending up in Pylea and that he was also very skilled in opening portals being able to open them remotely (with text messages to mobile phones no less) and able to summon demons through them. In the show Fred was going to kill him but Gunn did so to save it being on her conscience._

_In BtVS episode 3:18 Earshot Buffy becomes telepathic after exposure to the blood from a certain type of demon. Wesley would of course not want to be around for that although by chance it was Faith that became telepathic this time around. At the same time Jonathan Levinson was planning to commit suicide using his father's rifle (Buffy stopped him in canon, here Wesley just stole the rifle in advance). Also in 3:18 the school lunch lady tried to kill the students by putting rat poison in the Mulligan Soup... nice opportunity for me to explain the name of this story to those entirely ignorant of golf terms!_

_Hope you're enjoying the story, reviews are always gratefully received (they attract new readers). _


	12. Chapter 12

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

* * *

**Sunset Ridge – Sunnydale – April 23rd 1999**

'I specifically said I didn't want any pickle in my burger' Wesley complained, picking it out and throwing it out of the open window of the hired SUV before reassembling his meal once again. They were parked up at the side of the road after their late-night visit to Happy Burger although not everyone in the car felt like eating, at least not burgers and fries in one case.

'They fuck you at the drive-through Wes' Faith told him before biting into her own bacon cheeseburger with more enthusiasm. She had called shotgun which meant that Buffy, Xander, a disgruntled Anya and two Willow's were sat in the back, or rather technically one Willow was seated the other one was tied up in the luggage space after becoming obstreperous earlier.

'Can I go back and eat the one that served you?' one of the Willow's in the back of the SUV asked. Without turning around to check Wesley assumed it was the vampire.

'If my coke turns out to be diet I'll consider it' Wesley replied, putting down his burger and picking up his drink.

'I'm too excited to eat' the other Willow piped up.

'Good because I was worried all that bouncing up and down on the seat was you needing the bathroom' Buffy told her, inspecting her crossbow again. 'You're not even coming along Will.'

'No but I get to watch' Willow replied. 'And I helped with the research' she added.

'I can't believe I got talked into this' Anya complained, looking at her chicken nuggets without enthusiasm.

'I thought we threatened you into this?' Faith responded, before slurping on her chocolate shake. Wesley must be pretty distracted himself, she thought, because he didn't complain about the noise.

'Are you sure I shouldn't go with you?' Willow asked again. 'I mean what with the magic...'

Wesley sighed. 'When we get to the other side and cast the spell it should return the soul of your alternate self' he began.

'And we've got no idea what'll happen if there are two Willow Rosenbergs in the same dimension at the same time when the spell is cast' Willow finished for him. 'My soul might get ripped out and transferred to hers. 'I might end up with _both_ souls...'

'Or you might even die' Buffy finished for her. 'You're staying here with Giles and Oz' she told her friend determinedly. 'And Xander too if I can get him to listen.'

'No way, no how' Xander replied. 'I'm coming with' he stated firmly. 'It's not like you're listening to the same advice' he pointed out.

'Xander I've done the portal thing before' Buffy replied. 'I got back fine' she said, recalling her visit to the dimension where human slaves abducted from Earth were forced to work in a huge factory complex.

'I admire your spirit Buffy but Xander does raise the important issue that it is potentially risky to transport both slayers from this dimension at the same time' Wesley suggested. 'During your previous sojourn to another reality Faith remained in this one' he noted. 'I don't believe that it will cause a problem but I cannot be completely certain' he said, picking up a handful of fries. 'A more likely calamity is that we don't get back leaving this world with no slayer whatsoever' he said dispassionately, putting the fries in his mouth.

Faith looked at her watcher, why the hell did he have to be out of town during what might have been her only opportunity to discover what made the limey bastard tick. Learning that men thought about sex a lot, Willow didn't like her much, Buffy was still kinda sore that she wasn't the only slayer, Cordelia was pretty shallow and Oz was pretty deep wasn't exactly a major shock. In fact if it hadn't been for finding out Giles once boned B's Mom a couple of times on the hood of a police car her temporary telepathy would have been a real waste.

Giles did save her life of course, using the heart of the other demon Buffy caught to make a potion to cure her, so Faith decided to keep quiet about the cop car thing figuring she owed him one. And anyway he knew she knew so that was something she could cash in on one day if she ever royally fucked up and needed Giles to back her against Wes.

'Please do try not to get grease or ketchup on the car seats' Wesley requested. 'I'd like to get my deposit back' he said. 'Assuming of course we get back with the car' he added.

'The voice of optimism and frugality speaks' Xander responded, surreptitiously trying to wipe some mayonnaise off the upholstery with a paper napkin. 'I still think this would be cooler if we were in a DeLorean' he opined, hoping that the stain left behind was too small to notice.

'We wouldn't all fit in a DeLorean Xander' Buffy pointed out.

'You could sit on my lap' Xander suggested.

'I don't think so' Buffy replied, rolling her eyes.

'Can I sit on your lap?' a voice from the back of the SUV asked.

Xander shuddered. 'No' he stated firmly.

'Shouldn't the condemned woman get her last request?' the vampire Willow asked next.

'Not if it's that' Xander replied firmly. 'And we're not going to kill you we're just going to put your soul back.'

'Same thing' the vampire contended. 'No last meal either?' she asked hopefully.

'Not if it's human blood' Buffy responded.

'Bitch' the vampire muttered.

Anya was starting to look increasingly gloomy. 'Cheer up' Xander told her. 'You come through for us here and we wipe the slate clean' he said.

'You don't need me for this' Anya maintained. 'Why can't Amy go?' she asked. 'She's better at magic than me.'

'Amy wasn't responsible for bringing Willow's bloodsucking alter-ego here, you were' Buffy reminded her.

'You break it you pay for it' Xander added.

'_She_ cast the spell not me' Anya protested, pointing at the human Willow. 'If she hadn't screwed it up I'd have my old job back and vampira wouldn't be here at all.'

'No fair, you totally misled me about what we were doing' Willow counter-argued. 'You're not going to listen to demon-girl are you?' she asked her friends.

'_Ex_ demon-girl' Anya responded sadly. 'No job prospects, no family, no friends' she said. 'No date for the Prom' she added gloomily.

Faith looked across to Wesley. 'Want me to go back there and separate the kids before the bickering turns nasty?' she asked before cranking her head around further to look at the others. 'If you don't all start to behave then Wes is going to turn this thing around and take you right back home' she chided them, trying to keep a straight face.

'You're all of a month older than me Faith' Buffy retorted.

'And you're younger than me and Will' Xander added.

Anya snorted with derision. 'I was born in 860' she announced. 'I'd already been around a while when The Master was just an up-and-coming vampire called Heiny.'

Buffy raised her eyebrows. 'Heiny?' she repeated quizzically.

'Short for Heinrich' Anya explained. 'Lots of ambition, plenty of ego even then' she said, recalling the good old days wistfully.

'I am _so_ looking forward to dusting him again' Buffy said brightly.

'Just try not to die this time okay B' Faith responded, smirking. 'Maybe it's a good idea bringing Xander along just in case you need CPR again.'

'Totally got the element of surprise this time and no damn prophecy to contend with' Buffy replied.

'Actually if this is indeed a alternate universe not too far removed from our own we're going to then it's likely that the Pergamum Codex predicting the death of Buffy Summer's at the Master's hands still exists' Wesley observed, before washing down the rest of his fries with some coke. 'Of course according to the bloodsucking fiend in the boot her universe's Buffy was in a life and death struggle with the Master when she was pulled into our reality so it's probably the other one that is destined to die' he finished after swallowing.

'You could at least sound upset when you say something like that!' Buffy exclaimed after a long pause.

'Giles made me promise to look after you, not every Buffy Summers in the multiverse' Wesley replied flatly. 'And I believe he's just arrived' he continued, opening the front driver's side door of the Ford Explorer and getting out as Oz's van pulled up behind them.

'It's a good thing he's not a vampire because if he was much more heartless there wouldn't be anything to stake' Xander quipped.

Buffy frowned then looked to Anya. 'Didn't you say that we'd arrive at around the same time as Evil Willow left?' she asked.

'Give or take' Anya confirmed. 'There's a mystical convergence at roughly that point, probably because of my amulet being destroyed' she explained. 'You know we might even be able to save my amulet if we're early enough...'

'No' Buffy interrupted her sternly.

'Not even if I promised to leave your home dimension alone and only wreak vengeance on men in the one we're going to?' Anya wheedled.

'No!' Buffy, Xander and Willow said together this time.

'This blows' Anya complained, mostly to herself. 'I'll probably end up stuck in some crappy retail job the rest of my pathetically short life' she said. 'Fifty, sixty years tops and I'll be dead of old age' she continued dejectedly. 'I've been to _parties_ that lasted longer than that' she muttered, voice trailing off as she realised they were all ignoring her completely now.

Minutes later Willow was stood with Giles and Oz by the latter's van and the others were buckling up in the SUV. 'So if we didn't all go in this thing we might not all end up in the same place?' Xander asked.

'My research into portal travel indicates as such' Wesley confirmed. 'There were three references to iron or metal in the literature I studied' he told them. 'I believe that being inside the car and driving through the portal together will ensure we don't end up scattered on the other side.'

'And by "scattered" you mean separated and not disintegrated to our component atoms' Xander checked.

'That's not an issue trust me' Wesley replied, in fact a more likely result was all of them being merged into a freakish Siamese Sextuplet but it was probably best not to mention that he thought correctly. 'We should end up in exactly the same place too, geographically speaking if not dimensionally, which is why I thought this road was ideal' he said. 'As well as being the site of one of the innumerable psychic hotspots above the Hellmouth there isn't exactly much traffic running along here even during daylight, let alone at night in a world where The Master had risen.'

'I wish I'd asked Giles to pick up my lucky white dress from home as well as Mr Pointy' Buffy remarked. 'I know it wasn't very practical to slay in but I looked good in it and it was the one I dusted him in last time' she said.

'I don't quite understand your attachment to that particular piece of sharpened wood' Wesley responded, himself looking over a map of Sunnydale to determine the best route to take on the other side of the portal.

'It was Kendra's' Buffy explained, 'every vampire I dust with it is a little piece of payback' she said. 'And one day I'm going to bury Mr Pointy in Drusilla's chest' she vowed.

'Amen' Faith added quietly.

'If everyone is ready I believe it's over to Willow' Wesley said, giving the young witch-in-training a thumbs-up.

Willow turned to Giles for approval and after he nodded to go ahead she opened the ancient book she was holding. 'I used to think Latin was bad' she said, grimacing as she ran her eyes over the text before starting to read from it.

In the car Faith started to play with the radio. 'Got to be a station somewhere around here that plays something worth listening to' she said, quickly abandoning the attempt when she realised the expression of annoyance forming on Wesley's face. 'It's probably all Easy Listening anyway' she said, sitting back in her seat just as a distorted vortex began to open fifty yards up the road.

'Just to check, we don't need that book Willow has to get home?' Xander asked.

'No, it's a different spell to travel back the way you came' Wesley verified.

Xander nodded. 'Which we've _definitely_ got?' he checked.

Wesley put the car into drive, took off the handbrake and pressed down on the accelerator sending them towards the portal. 'You know I might have left it in my other jacket' he replied, smirking to himself as they approached the vortex.

'He's not funny' Xander told Buffy just as they reached the portal.

Oz and the others watched the Ford Explorer enter the portal and vanish, the whirlpool in time and space disappearing almost immediately afterwards. 'Would have been cooler in a DeLorean' he decided, doubting that the bulky SUV could even get up to eighty-eight without a struggle.

In another time, place and reality the melee fight in the factory was already far too chaotic to easily determine which side was winning although the humans Angel had freed from their cage were doing better than might be expected, perhaps because they were literally fighting for their lives while most of the vampires not having realised that the slayer herself was amongst them were still only fighting for their next meal.

Seeing Larry wrestling with the vampire Willow Oz came running and helped push her back, trying to impale her on part of the wooden cage. Just before she reached the point however she seemed to vanish, and not to dust, momentarily confusing Larry and Oz but they were soon too busy dealing with the next vampire to ponder what had happened for more than a second.

Buffy kicked another vampire out of her way and started smashing others aside in her attempt to reach The Master who was doing likewise from the other direction.

Wishing Angel hadn't already fallen, dusted by the vampire Xander before he in turn had fallen before the slayer with the vicious scar across her mouth, Oz and Larry did their best to try and save lives but ultimately the vampires were bound to win against unarmed humans who mostly didn't even know how to fight. Their only real hope was the slayer but so far she seemed to be coming off second-best to the centuries old vampire leader who was her match in strength and skill it seemed and far more resilient to damage.

The Master finally managed to overpower the slayer, twisting her around and putting her head into a lock, seeking the leverage to break her neck. This world belonged to him and always would. 'What?' he said in confusion as he spotted the slayer held in his grip appear on the other side of the room.

Like Oz and Larry beforehand he also didn't have much time to question the inexplicable turn of events before subsequent developments intervened though in The Master's case it was even more sudden as a man stood alongside the slayer across the room smoothly drew a handgun and shot him in the head from an impressive range. Being fast enough to catch a crossbow bolt as The Master was didn't make you fast enough to catch a bullet and although high-velocity lead wasn't lethal to any vampire it still more than stung a little if fired into your skull.

Buffy felt the master loosen his grip and stagger backwards, she broke his hold and somehow managed to spin around and sweep his legs away sending him crashing to the ground hard.

'Nice shooting Tex' Faith told Wesley, wondering how a guy who came from a country where handguns were banned could be so good with them, before looking to her own Buffy, it seemed like they had arrived just in the nick of time. 'Shall we?' she asked, grinning and raising a crossbow.

'Way ahead of you Faith' Buffy replied, firing her own crossbow into the heart of the nearest vampire and then throwing it away as she pulled out Mr Pointy.

Oz and Larry looked at each other as two girls, one of who looked exactly like the slayer waded into the remaining vampires and started taking them apart. Meanwhile the man who had entered with them emptied the rest of his pistol magazine into a vampire that tried to attack him and then activated some mechanism on his wrist that seemed to deploy a stake which he calmly stabbed it into the heart of the wounded vampire turning it to ash. Who the hell _were_ these people, Oz wondered in amazement?

The Master had recovered quickly from the bullet wound, even by vampire standards he was in a league of his own, but by the time he was able to shake off the injury to his head the scarred slayer he had been about to kill only moments before was kneeling on his chest punching him repeatedly in the face. She looked almost feral, eyes blazing and the scar giving her grim look of determination and rage an added flavour of pure viciousness that the blows of her fists only supported.

Wading into the regular vampires, she liked to think of them as "Mooks", Faith decided to try out her new toy when one dressed like a punk from the late 1970's pulled a switchblade on her. The expression on the bloodsucker when she deployed her collapsible sword from her wrist in response was worth delaying his decapitation for a second or two but he soon joined the rest of his crew as dust on the floor as the dark-haired slayer gleefully pounced on her next victim.

Wesley watched his slayers fight with interest. Faith still lacked Buffy's grace and delayed the kill a little too often but Buffy herself would benefit from a rounder curriculum adding other fighting styles to her repertoire, he decided. Wishing that he had developed them to the stage where they were more comfortable with firearms and wouldn't react negatively to him wielding his Mossberg Pump-Action shotgun on these kinds of occasions the watcher ejected the empty magazine from his Colt .45 Automatic and loaded another. Next time he'd bring both pistols and really show them something he thought, satisfied that the hours he was putting in at the Sunnydale firing range was starting to get his skills back to par.

The Master managed to knock the slayer kneeling on his chest away but before he could rise her double jumped on him and put him in a wrestling hold. 'Please stake this guy before he gets away' the second Buffy Summers requested of the first, scarred one.

'Who are you?' the Buffy who was supposed to be in this reality wanted to know.

'Dust vampire first, introductions later' the one straining to hold The Master down responded through gritted teeth.

'Catch' Faith called out, throwing a stake to the Buffy with the scar, the slayer catching it and in one movement bringing it down hard on The Master's ribcage.

'No' The Master gasped, it wasn't supposed to be this way was his final thought as his flesh burned to ash leaving his skeleton behind.

The two Buffy Summers looked at each other. 'That hair, not working for you' the one now holding onto a pile of bones' told her double after a beat. 'We should help Faith' she added, flipping herself back to her feet sending bones flying everywhere as she did.

Outside the factory Xander was sitting on the lowered tailgate of the SUV with a crossbow in his hands, Anya sat beside him with a large wooden cross lying on her lap and several piles of dust scattered around the immediate area.

'Gotcha' Xander said with satisfaction shooting another vampire fleeing the building in the chest before reloading his crossbow again, they all looked so surprised it was verging on twisted fun. Wes was right, duct-taping an old laser pointer to the crossbow as an improvised aiming device worked great, he thought, just put the dot over the heart and pull the trigger. Most of the vampires just came running straight up to him thinking he was on their side making it a fairly easy shot although the most entertaining had been the one who stood there five yards away saying "But I just saw the slayer stake you" before the bolt hit him.

'So have you asked anyone to the Prom yet' Anya inquired. 'Because if you haven't I need a date' she told him.

Xander blinked. 'Are you asking me to take you to the Prom?' he asked incredulously. 'Oh wait of course you are' he realised. 'You're a demon.'

'If I still was I wouldn't need a date for the Prom' Anya replied glumly. 'There's another vampire' she pointed out, though by now most of the people leaving the factory were actually real people running away from the fighting inside.

'Thanks' Xander replied taking aim.

'If you take me to the Prom I'll put out afterwards' Anya told him, his startled reaction just as he pulled the trigger sending the bolt wild to end up in the vampire's crotch instead of his heart. From the vampire's immediate perspective this was a worse result if anything as he hit the floor screaming.

Inside Faith was dusting the last remaining vampire and Wesley was holstering his pistol. 'I'll ask again' the Buffy with the scar across her mouth said loudly, looking at her doppelganger. 'Who _are_ you?' she demanded to know.

'I'm you' Buffy replied, 'an alternate you from a parallel universe' she replied. 'Didn't you ever see a TV show where that happened?' she asked rhetorically.

'Oh wow, you're kidding' Larry exclaimed, Oz was thinking it too but stayed quiet.

'Nope' Faith told him.

'So who are _you_?' the Buffy from this reality asked the brunette.

'I'm Faith, the Vampire Slayer' she replied. 'It's a long story' she said. 'I like the bit where B there dies myself' she said, grinning.

The scarred slayer turned back to her double, eyes narrowing suspiciously, wondering if this was a vampire until she spotted the cross hanging around the other girl's neck. 'I got better' Buffy told her.

'Hey Wes, I thought it said in the prophecy that boney there was supposed to ice Buffy Summers' Faith called over to her watcher who was now inspecting The Master's blood draining machine with interest.

Wesley looked up. 'Well to coin a phrase I've always liked "Screw Destiny" as a philosophy when it comes to things like that' he replied. 'Fascinating contraption' he observed, looking back to the machine.

An idea occurred to Buffy. 'I don't suppose you're in the market for a sidekick?' she asked her dimensional twin. 'We've got this vampire we need to offload after putting her soul back' she said, putting her arm around the other Buffy's shoulder and leading her away 'Really nice girl you'll like her' she said. 'Smart too, do all your paperwork and stuff and of course super-strong and fast thanks to be being a vampire' she continued the hard sell. 'Probably be feeling super guilty and looking for redemption so you won't have to pay her...'

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

___Sunset Ridge is a district of Sunnydale, one of the businesses there is Happy Burger. Utilising psychic hotspots and driving through a portal in a car so you stay together and end up in the same destination comes from AtS episode 2:20 Over the Rainbow._

___The parallel universe they've visited where The Master rose is usually called "The Wishverse" and was seen in BtVS 3:09 The Wish and 3:16 Doppelgängland. The alternate Buffy from that dimension seemed a lot harder and more determined than the normal one but lacked support. A newly re-ensouled Vampire Willow could be just the trick! Also in the Wishverse there was a sort-of alternate Scoobs (nicknamed the White Hats) led by Giles who were fighting the vampires (without the help of a slayer, Buffy never came to live in Sunnydale in the Wishverse, she only arrived after Giles requested her urgent assistance). Oz and Larry Blaisdell were part of the "human resistance" as it were._

___According to the prophecies of the Pergamum Codex The Master was supposed to kill Buffy Summers, something he accomplished in both universes (although in the regular one Xander brought her back with CPR). In this alternate Wishverse however Buffy never dies thereby screwing the thing up entirely..._**_  
_**


	13. Chapter 13

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

* * *

**Summers Residence – Sunnydale – May 11th 1999**

'So Faith' Joyce began after the girl's attention momentarily moved away from her dinner, 'Buffy tells me that you're not planning to go to college yourself?' she asked.

Faith shook her head. 'I'd have to graduate High School first and bother to sit my SAT's' she replied, reaching for the salt. B's Mom wasn't a bad cook but she skimped on the seasonings.

'So you won't be leaving Sunnydale then' Joyce continued, looking for confirmation.

'Not unless the Hellmouth decides it's tired of California and goes on vacation back east or something' Faith responded, attention returning to her food. It was nice having something home-cooked for once instead of ending up in another diner or being dragged by Wes to somewhere fancy where she had to act even more on her best behaviour than she did here.

Joyce smiled and turned to her daughter who was already starting to look suspicious. 'You see, Faith can look after Sunnydale while you go to Northwestern' she said. 'Did you know that Buffy was accepted there?' she asked Faith.

'First I heard of it' Faith replied. 'Maybe I was off somewhere else when she told Giles and Wes' she added, ignoring the glare that Buffy had now sent her way. Looks like I'm going to get dinner _and_ a show tonight, Faith thought to herself with amusement.

'I haven't... I mean...' Buffy began awkwardly then stopped.

'You haven't told Mr Giles?' Joyce interrupted. 'Were you planning on leaving him a note?' she continued, starting to look annoyed. 'Dear Mr Giles, I've gone to Illinois, please forward my favourite crossbow' she said sardonically. 'The longer you put it off the harder it'll be to tell him' she advised. 'Your father always used to procrastinate about things too' she added disapprovingly.

'No Mom' Buffy responded, 'I mean I hadn't decided whether I should go to Northwestern' she said.

Joyce frowned. 'But it has the best reputation of anywhere that accepted you and you know we've got family in Illinois so you wouldn't be too far away from support if you ever needed it' she said. 'I was thinking you could occasionally go to your Aunt Arlene and her family at the weekends, you always got on so well with your cousins.'

Buffy had been dreading this conversation and it showed all over her face. 'I don't think I can leave the Hellmouth' she managed to get out. 'I've been looking at UC Sunnydale and they've got some really great...'

'UC Sunnydale?' Joyce interrupted her daughter again. 'I mean it's not exactly Northwestern and why can't you leave the Hellmouth with Faith here?' she wanted to know. 'As far as I know there's usually only one slayer at a time and that's enough to keep all the vampires and other things in check' she said.

Buffy closed her eyes, her best argument was one she didn't want to use but it looked like she had to. 'Mom, most slayers are dead before they're out of their early twenties, even making eighteen is pretty impressive' she said. 'If I left and Faith got killed because I wasn't there to back her up then it would be my fault' she told her mother earnestly.

'Hey I can look after myself' Faith interjected.

'We're no stronger or faster than all the hundreds of slayers who came before us Faith' Buffy told her flatly. 'Kendra died, I don't want to outlive the girl who was called when she did too' she added quietly. Things might have been different if they hadn't visited that parallel universe. That other Buffy would have almost certainly died if they hadn't been there and that had brought the concept of slayer mortality back to the forefront of Buffy's mind. Could she really justify leaving Faith to fight the forces of darkness alone just so she could attend a better college?

Faith grinned. 'Didn't know you cared, not even when I could read your mind' she replied.

'I spent most of that time either trying to think of things I didn't mind you knowing or trying to save your life' Buffy responded. 'Although the fact I _was_ trying so hard to save your life should have been a clue' she said.

'Yeah well, never claimed to be the brains of the outfit' Faith joked.

Joyce looked at her daughter, frown returning. She wasn't quite sure what to say. 'I suppose that is a responsible attitude and two slayers are going to be much safer than one, but does this mean you're never going to get beyond the slayer thing?' she asked eventually.

'It's not a phase Mom' Buffy replied, trying not to sound too condescending. 'According to Giles some girls are just born with the potential to become slayers and I was one of them.'

'I swear I've heard this speech before from some chick in a made for television movie coming out to her parents as a dy...' Faith began then stopped, 'lesbian' she corrected herself, trying not to laugh.

Buffy glared at Faith again but Joyce had more of a sense of humour. 'So have you ever tried _not_ being a slayer?' she asked her daughter.

Faith laughed, Buffy's Mom was great. 'Don't worry Joyce, I'll have B's back too and with me doing most of the patrolling alone when it's quiet she'll have time to study.'

'I'm still disappointed about Northwestern' Joyce admitted sadly. 'I suppose I'll have to call Arlene again and say you won't be going there now.'

'Willow was accepted by Oxford' Buffy told her mother. 'And Harvard, Yale and MIT' she said.

'Used to run into Harvard types back home sometimes' Faith replied, 'when they were slumming and came into my part of town trying to find some girl dumb enough to be impressed by them using fancy words I mean.'

'Big vocabulary not something you're looking for in a guy?' Buffy queried.

'It ain't a priority' Faith replied. 'I wouldn't hold it against a guy either though' she added.

'Cordelia says she's going to Columbia' Buffy told her mother.

'Hey don't knock it' Faith commented, 'I hear the coke is cheap down there.'

Buffy groaned. 'Columbia _University_' she explained.

'I know B, it's in New York, I was just making a joke' Faith responded, rolling her eyes.

'That must be costing her parents a lot of money' Joyce observed.

'She said something about her father needing to move some money around and he decided to spring for the most expensive place she was accepted by' Buffy explained. 'It wasn't her grades getting a scholarship or anything' she added somewhat bitchily. Cordelia did better academically than people might think but she wasn't exactly Ivy League material without her father getting out her chequebook.

A fact unknown to Cordelia herself was that the reason her father needed to move money around was that an anonymous letter had warned him that the IRS was about to audit all his financial records for the past twelve years. Unless he wanted to be bankrupted, the letter warned, he had better do a first class job of covering up just how much he owed in tax arrears and do a few accountancy tricks to obfuscate the situation. Wesley had known that the butterfly effects of Cordelia _not_ ending up a penniless wannabe actress facing several supernatural pregnancies, a coma and a short life would be severe, but even if she would never know it she was his friend and a better future for her was worth a messier one for him.

After dinner and dessert Buffy and Faith went patrolling, Angel was supposed to hook up with them later which was when Faith was supposed to "suddenly remember" she had plans to meet Amy at the Bronze and leave them alone. Until then however the two slayers were wandering a couple of the local graveyards and waiting to see if anything nasty was either tough or dumb enough not to run away when it ran into two slayers at the same time.

Faith stopped and leaned back against a tombstone. 'Loved that picture Xander took of us and the other Buffy' she remarked. 'Great that one of us remembered to bring a camera.'

'It would have been better if you hadn't been between us holding up Bunny Ears with your fingers behind our heads' Buffy replied evenly. 'It was supposed to be a "three slayers together for the first time" memento not a joke' she complained.

'Don't see why it couldn't be funny too' Faith retorted. 'You're wrapped nearly as tight as she was.'

'Am not!' Buffy objected. 'She was all business, I make with the fun all the time' Buffy defended herself.

Faith smirked. 'Whatever' she replied, reaching into her jacket pocket for some chewing gum. 'Two sticks left, want some?' she offered. 'Get that breath minty fresh for when you're swapping spit with the guy that swigs down blood.'

'That was gross Faith' Buffy complained, still taking the proffered gum.

'Hey, he might be dead but at least you've got a guy' Faith noted, unwrapping her own piece and popping it into her mouth while dropping the empty wrapper.

Buffy sighed, bent down and picked up the litter Faith had discarded. 'Show some respect, it's a cemetery' she reminded the other girl.

'They're dead B, they don't mind' Faith responded, tapping the tombstone she was resting against. 'Okay in this town more of the dead than usual might be able to complain' she conceded, 'but we're going to turn those ones into dust and mess the place up anyway' she pointed out.

'Vampire ash is biodegradable and good for the soil' Buffy replied, crossing her arms. 'Willow analysed some once because Xander worried it might be carcinogenic or something' she explained when Faith looked at her with an expression that said "how the hell would you know that?"

Faith looked around then checked her watch. 'You know if Fang isn't too late I might be able to catch Amy for real before she heads home' she said.

'You two have been spending a lot of time together' Buffy noted.

'We mostly talk and have fun with guys that try and pick us up' Faith replied. 'If you ever want to get every straight guy in the room looking at you dance up close and dirty with a chick' she advised sagely.

'Yes I heard about that from Xander' Buffy responded. 'You and Amy took all the attention off the band.'

'Amy's idea, not mine' Faith told her. 'Girl's got a wicked sense of fun even if I had to carry her with the dancing and do most of the moving.'

Buffy nodded. 'She wasn't the most coordinated cheerleader in the world ever either' she recalled. 'That's probably why her Mom thought she could do a much better job.'

'Don't often meet a girl who I _wouldn't_ have happily swapped Mom's with but Jesus' Faith responded, shaking her head. 'I mean evil body-stealing bitch trumps neglectful drunk every time' she said. 'Her Dad is okay though I suppose so she's got that at least' she added. 'Amy missed a lot of school so she's going to have to retake senior year.'

'Didn't do Oz any harm' Buffy replied. 'Or if it did he's never mentioned it' she continued, 'not that he ever mentions much of anything' she had to admit, thinking about it more. 'We should probably patrol more.'

'Yeah, if Wes decides to come spy on us he'd rip me a new one for loafing on the job even if it's not like we're on the clock' she said, pushing off from the tombstone she had been leaning against and getting going again.

'I think he'd call that observing rather than spying Faith' Buffy told her, catching up and then walking alongside the other slayer.

'Yeah right' Faith replied sarcastically. 'Like I told Wes, being a watcher ain't as far away from being a stalker as he likes to think' she added with a chuckle. 'Hey did I tell you about the woman that owns the little grocery store by the motel?' she asked, rhetorically. 'I go in there a lot with Wes, mainly because it gives me the chance to mooch when I suddenly "remember" I've left my money in my other jacket along with my stake'

'You _do_ mislay a lot of stakes' Buffy had to comment after the number of times she had to loan Faith one.

'So anyway we're at the counter' Faith continued, ignoring the interruption, 'Wes has his wallet out and hands me twenty to pay for the groceries and shit and the old lady behind the cash register makes this crack about older guys dating teenagers should be ashamed of themselves and so should girls using men for their money.'

Buffy's jaw dropped. 'That's so rude' she exclaimed.

'Hell, I was thinking about slapping the bitch' Faith agreed, 'but before I could even mouth off Wes just smiles politely and tells her that she's got it wrong and he's my guardian not my lover but he's mystified why she thinks he could possibly afford to keep a girl as pretty as me when he shops at such a shithole' she said, laughing. 'It was even better with his accent I tell you!'

Buffy couldn't help but laugh herself imaging the expression on the woman's face, that wasn't to say she wholly approved though. 'Two wrongs don't make a right you know, being rude back wasn't exactly going for the moral high ground.'

'I think he just goes for the win' Faith replied, still grinning. 'Or straight for the throat sometimes' she added.

'Well at least he called you pretty' Buffy noted.

'Yeah, but two minutes earlier than that he was calling me a pain in the ass for never carrying any money' Faith replied with a shrug.

Buffy frowned. 'You know technically you _are_ using him for his money' she pointed out.

Faith nodded. 'But he's not even getting any which means I'm a freeloader not a working girl' she replied. 'And I _did_ get him that pen so it's not like I've never done anything nice for him' she said, not mentioning their sideline business in robbing demon drug dealers. 'Where the hell is Angel?' she asked in annoyance as she checked her watch again.

'If you want to get going I can patrol on my own until he gets here' Buffy offered.

'Thanks B, but do me a favour and don't get yourself killed after I'm gone because after you told your Mom earlier you were only staying in Sunnydale to watch my back you dying because I went to a club the same night is going to make me look really bad' Faith replied. 'I'd better get moving, see ya later' she said, heading off.

'Tell Amy I said Hi' Buffy called after her as Faith rapidly disappeared from view.

Buffy continued through the graveyard a little longer then stopped by a gnarled tree, it looked just like the sort of location you might run into a vampire so she decide to wait until one turned up for better or worse.

Perhaps she and Angel were in a rut relationship wise, Buffy pondered as she inspected the collapsible sword mechanism on her wrist. Most of the time they spent together involved slaying vampires and it would be nice to go somewhere new, somewhere that wasn't the lair of a Fire Demon for example anyway. Angel might not be getting any older but she was and with Faith around to help keep the hellmouth under control Buffy was starting to look further into the future.

In a few years Angel would look younger than her. Moving beyond that he'd eventually reach the stage when people seeing them together might assume she was his _mother_, Buffy realised with a grimace.

'When I'm fifty I'm going to introduce you as my toyboy whenever we meet new people' Buffy informed Angel sternly when he turned up.

Angel thought about that. 'Okay' he agreed, 'but for now when we go to restaurants or the movies can you make sure everyone knows you're not jailbait any more because sometimes the looks we get from other people make me feel really awkward' he told her honestly.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

___We find out in BtVS episode 3:19 Choices that Buffy was accepted by several universities but she decides to stay in Sunnydale because with Faith turned bad someone has to look after the hellmouth. Ironically here Faith not being evil has the same effect, Buffy and Faith just feel responsible for each other more._

___Cordelia ended up in LA (and poor) because her father hadn't been behaving legally regarding his taxes. She didn't have a great (or long) life in Wesley's original timeline, well that's something he can fix for her and he doesn't even have to shoot anyone!_**_  
_**


	14. Chapter 14

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

* * *

**Crestwood College Campus – Sunnydale – May 15th 1999**

'What the hell are we doing here Wes?' Faith wanted to know as she got off the back of his motorcycle and took off her helmet. He had stopped outside a large, partially boarded-up house on the edge of the college grounds and she had thought he was taking her somewhere for lunch.

'Do you like it?' Wesley asked, hanging his own helmet on the handlebars of the Norton 850.

'What am I supposed to be liking?' Faith queried, looking around.

'The house' Wesley explained patiently. 'I took a look around yesterday, made an offer and after I pointed out they hadn't had any other interest in the property, and weren't likely to under the circumstances, they accepted it' he told her happily.

'You're renting this house?' Faith responded, surprised. 'Isn't this like part of the freaking college?' she asked.

Wesley shook his head. 'It's on the grounds but it actually belonged to a fraternity which was dissolved over a year ago' he replied. 'Delta Zeta Kappa to be precise' he continued. 'Their alumni used to be the major contributor of donations to the college but most of them have suffered a few financial setbacks recently' he said. 'Or they've committed suicide' he said matter-of-factly, 'either way, Crestwood is desperately short of funds as a result and so what with property prices here being low anyway I practically got this place for a song.'

'What's wrong with it?' Faith asked suspiciously.

'Nothing... now' Wesley replied. 'It's just that the fraternity used to perform an annual ritual where they would sacrifice teenage girls to the demon Machida in the cellar' he said dispassionately, starting to walk up the path towards the front door. 'In return Machida granted them good fortune' he continued to explain, Faith pausing for a moment before starting to follow. 'They made the mistake of picking Buffy as one of their sacrifices last year which ended, as you might expect, with the demon's demise.'

'And the evil frat-boys?' Faith queried.

'They ended up in prison when the authorities unearthed the remains of previous sacrifices in a cavern under the house' Wesley responded. 'That could be very useful for storage space I thought' he added, smiling as he reached the front door and took the key from his pocket. 'The house comes furnished, all we need to do is move in our belongings.'

Faith stopped at the doorway when Wesley entered. 'Are you seriously telling me that you're moving into the house where evil college kids used to feed girls my age to a fucking monster and you expect me to come with?' she responded incredulously.

'I won't charge any rent and you can choose your own bedroom' Wesley replied, turning back towards here. 'Also I've no intention of continuing to pay for your motel room any more' he added flatly.

'I'll look upstairs and let you know which room I'm taking' Faith responded immediately, stepping inside. 'Needs cleaning' she observed, noting the dust everywhere.

Wesley smirked. 'Which brings us neatly to the subject of your share of the household chores' he said.

'Is this where you ask me to wear a French Maid's outfit' Faith replied, smirking back.

'That wasn't on the list I had in mind but it might make the revision' Wesley responded dryly, imagining not for the first time how flustered the version of himself who _should_ be in 1999 would have been after she said that to him.

'I'm thinking housewarming party' Faith decided.

'Think again' Wesley replied flatly.

Faith frowned, she'd work on him later, wheedle an agreement for one out of him when he was in a better mood, or maybe drunk. 'I know you said you got it cheap but isn't this dump a bit too big for just us two?' she pointed out.

'I like plenty of space' Wesley replied, he had missed all the room he had enjoyed living in the Hyperion even if much of it had needed renovation and wasn't fit to live in. 'Also just the other side of that wall marking the perimeter of the campus grounds is one of three largest cemeteries in Sunnydale and we're also not far from several others.'

'Convenient' Faith observed.

'Location, location, location' Wesley said, smiling. 'We're paid up to the end of the week at the motel so we can clean this place up a little before moving in.'

'And get a TV' Faith interjected.

'If we have to' Wesley agreed unenthusiastically.

'With cable' Faith added.

Wesley pursed his lips. 'I suppose having BBC America would be nice.'

'I was thinking HBO' Faith told him.

'Only if you pay for it' Wesley told her.

'I can live without' Faith decided. 'Although if you can find another place they're dealing that mystical junk out of I guess I could spring for HBO out of my share of the money we take from them after we kill 'em.'

Wesley nodded. 'As luck would have it I did hear rumours of a couple of vampire hang-outs in Los Angeles which might be worth visiting' he told her.

'Cool' Faith replied happily. 'So do I ever get to meet any of these mysterious contacts that feed you this information?' she asked. For a dude that hadn't been in the country very long he often seemed really well informed and knew more California lowlifes than he should.

'No, I don't think it would be wise' Wesley replied. 'I just wouldn't want to expose you to the scummy elements I sometimes associate with' he said.

'I'm not exactly sweet and innocent and in need of protection from lowlifes Wes' Faith replied.

'No I meant you'd be a bad influence on them' Wesley told her, trying to deliver the line as deadpan as he could. 'Seriously though I'd really not want you to get involved' he added after enjoying her scowl for a few moments. 'You might not be quite as...' he paused to think of the right word, 'innocent' he eventually came up with, 'as most girls your age but just because you're a tad more worldly-wise doesn't mean you're not still young and impressionable.'

'Meaning?' Faith asked.

'Meaning that I'd rather handle some of the more horrible, despicable shit that becomes necessary so you don't have to' Wesley stated before checking his watch. 'I'll give you ten minutes to look around but then we really need to get going' he said.

'Yeah, lunch would be good' Faith agreed.

'Also we still need to go see Principal Snyder about enrolling you in school for next year' Wesley told her.

Faith laughed for a few seconds then stopped. 'Oh shit you're serious' she realised.

'Yes' Wesley confirmed. 'Summer school should help you catch up in the meantime.'

'I'm _not_ going back to High School Wes' Faith told him firmly.

'Yes you are' Wesley replied, equally as firmly. 'I realise that you'll be a year older than most of your classmates but at least you'll be there with your friend Amy and I believe Osbourne did his senior year twice so it's hardly unprecedented.'

'I quit school back in Boston and haven't spent much time regretting it since' Faith responded, crossing her arms. 'Not happening' she told him.

'I'm not saying this merely because you'd benefit from some additional education Faith, though God knows you could' Wesley informed her, 'the bloody hellmouth is under the school so having a slayer there to keep the lid on it screwed down tight strikes me as a good idea.'

Faith frowned. 'Oh right, I get it' she replied after thinking about it. 'So it's really more like a cover thing?' she reasoned.

'Yes' Wesley confirmed. 'Although you'll have to do enough work and attend enough classes not to get kicked out so you might as well obtain your High School Diploma at the same time' he said.

The slayer laughed. 'It's sorta like that crap movie Buffy dragged me along to see last month with Drew Barrymore going back to school' she said, trying to remember what it was called. 'Never Been Kissed' she eventually recalled then fixed Wesley with a look. 'And if you were about to say some shit about there not being much I've "never" then think again' she told him forcefully.

'Too cheap a shot even for me' Wesley replied, smiling.

Once again Faith frowned as she considered the prospect of going back to school. 'You know I wasn't exactly a great student Wes' she admitted.

'I'm shocked' Wesley responded sardonically. 'I'm sure we can arrange extra tuition if necessary' he suggested. 'Perhaps Giles might help out there?' he wondered. 'If he decides to keep his job at the library you'll certainly still be seeing him a great deal' he said. 'Time's ticking by if you want lunch' he reminded her. 'After that, and going to see Snyder, I want to investigate some unusual purchases from the meat packing plant which seem to be tied into reports of demonic activity later' he said. 'I heard tell of possible hellhound sightings and someone has been buying animal brains which are their food of choice.'

'Hellhounds?' Faith asked quizzically.

'Demonic footsoldiers, originally bred during the Mahkash Wars' Wesley told her. 'Nasty buggers, all sharp teeth and aggression reputedly' he said before chuckling. 'Perhaps this time next year you'll be shopping for a prom dress like Buffy instead of dealing with hairy monsters?' he suggested.

'Or maybe I could do both because I'd need a date and "hairy monsters" could describe a couple of my old boyfriends' Faith replied not that she ever intended to go to something as lame as a High School prom. That was almost as sickening an idea as trying out for the cheerleading squad or something. 'You're not going to the Prom are you?' she asked.

'I considered it but if I was going to wear a tuxedo I'd have to shave and I doubt anyone would spike the punch enough for my tastes' Wesley replied. 'Also I thought it might be considerate of us to take care of anything vampiric or demonic which might come up so Buffy and her compatriots could be guaranteed the night off.'

Faith grinned. 'You're a lot nicer than you try to make people think you are' she observed.

'Please keep that revelation under your hat' Wesley requested with a wry smile. 'I've been putting a great deal of time and effort into trying to persuade the nastier denizens of this town that I'm not somebody they want to screw with and any rumours that I have a good side could undermine that.'

'Your secret's safe with me' Faith told him, still grinning. 'Also if we're talking secrets I think it'd be a slick move if you let Amy know you mess with the magic shit too' the slayer suggested. 'Girl could be wicked useful what with her skills' she said then paused for a moment. 'Also I kinda think she'd like someone to talk to about it because she worries about turning into an evil bitch like her Mom' Faith continued more softly. 'Knowing that you can be one of the good-guys and still do the magic thing would help her get her head straght.'

Wesley nodded. 'I'll consider it' he said. 'Also it's nice to hear you thinking of a friend's well-being Faith' he praised her seriously.

'Shit, it's not like I've got too many' Faith replied. 'She can come over and check out the new crib right?'

'Just as long as her visit doesn't represent the beginning of some Trojan Horse operation to surreptitiously bring around more people resulting in a housewarming party by default' Wesley guardedly replied.

Faith pursed her lips. 'Just to check, by "Trojan Horse" I guess you're not talking about rubbers for things that eat hay?' she queried.

Wesley blinked. 'I think I'll be setting you a reading list for the summer starting with Homer' he told his slayer. 'And no I don't mean bloody Simpson' he added before she could ask the question.

Across town Angel was answering the door to his mansion on Crawford Street being careful to keep out of the light. 'Mrs Summers' he greeted his unexpected guest with surprise.

'I'm sorry to, uh...' Joyce replied. 'Well, I would have called, but, you know' she said.

'Please, you're always welcome' Angel replied, letting her inside.

'My goodness, your place is amazing' Joyce told him, looking around.

'Yeah, I like a lot of space. I don't get out much during the day' Angel replied hoping she wasn't going to mention the manacles on the wall she was now trying not to look at too obviously.

'No, you wouldn't' Joyce responded, desperately trying not to imagine her daughter chained up in them because she was out all night quite a lot.

'Can I get you something?' Angel offered. 'I don't have any coffee' he continued apologetically. 'It makes me jittery' he explained in case she thought he only drank blood, tea was his beverage of choice.

'I'm here because I'm worried about you and Buffy' Joyce got straight to the point.

'What happened before, when I changed, it won't happen again' Angel promised.

'That's not all I'm concerned about' Joyce replied. 'I don't have to tell you that you and Buffy are from different worlds.'

'No you don't' Angel responded.

'She's had to deal with a lot. Grew up fast' Joyce noted. 'Sometimes even I forget that she's still just a girl' she said. 'Buffy is just starting out in life...'

'And I'm old enough to be her ancestor' Angel interjected.

'Yes you are' Joyce agreed. 'When it comes to you, Angel, she's just like any other young woman in love' she continued earnestly. 'You're all she can see of tomorrow. But I think we both know that there are some hard choices ahead' she said. 'If she can't make them, you're going to have to. I know you care about her. I just hope you care enough.'

Angel looked away. 'I know' he said quietly. It had been at the forefront of his mind since he found out Buffy was going to stay in town and attend UC Sunnydale.

'Please just think about it' Joyce requested, she just didn't want her little girl to get hurt.

'I will' Angel promised her as she turned to leave.

By the time Faith had picked out a room and quickly toured the house they were already running late for lunch and Wesley would have skipped the meal if Faith hadn't pointed out a slayer's metabolism needed plenty of fuel to run on efficiently and he wouldn't suffer from putting on a few pounds himself. Grumbling that his exercise regime favoured lean muscle over bulk Wesley nevertheless agreed they could stop at the Doublemeat Palace which was on the way to the High School and as usual he found himself paying at the counter while Faith grabbed a table.

Idly wondering exactly what the secret ingredient in the doublemeat burgers actually was Wesley accepted his change and picked up his tray of food. He turned and then almost dropped it as he recognised the impatient looking man waiting two places behind him in the queue, somehow managing to avoid looking as startled as he felt.

Fortunately the man in the suit didn't seem to recognise Wesley so the watcher simply headed for Faith's table and tried to blend into the background. 'Your grease, sugar and carbohydrates' he said to her, putting the tray down.

'Something up Wes?' Faith asked him, picking up his disquiet.

'No' Wesley lied, forcing himself to pick up his burger. What the hell was a Wolfram and Hart lawyer like Lee Mercer doing in Sunnydale? He thought to himself, mind racing.

Mercer had by now picked up his own tray and looked around for a table, there were plenty to choose from as the busy lunchtime rush was past and he plumped for one near the window away from where the smattering of locals were sat.

As he sat down Mercer's cellphone started to ring and he pulled it out of his pocket. 'Mercer' he said into it as he took the call. 'No I'm just getting something to eat before heading back' he answered the person on the other end of the line. 'No I'm not going to be putting in a restaurant bill on expenses' he denied, rolling his eyes 'have you ever _seen_ this hick town?' he asked rhetorically. 'Yeah I doubt they even _have_ a decent restaurant' he said loudly enough for most of the Sunnydale residents in the Doublemeat Palace to glare in his direction. 'Yep, what they dug out of the Professor definitely matches what they found in The-Man-Who-Would-Be-Olvikan' he confirmed, not worrying about being overheard because it would mean nothing to anyone here.

Wesley's eyes widened. One thing he had definitely _not_ counted on was the Sunnydale Police Department demonstrating any kind of competence but he reasoned they must have matched the ballistics of the bullets which killed Mayor Richard Wilkins with those the LAPD had found in the corpse of Professor Seidel.

Wolfram and Hart practically _owned_ the Los Angeles Police Department, and thinking about it logically it wasn't surprising that they knew or had an interest in Seidel given his arcane interests, but this was a revolting development by any standards Wesley considered.

Mercer had ended the call and was now tucking into his meal wondering what the hell the secret ingredient in these burgers was and wondering if he could get Knox or one of the other geeks in the Practical Science Division to analyse some of it. Looking around the room he suddenly recognised one of the other patrons and almost dropped his half-eaten cheeseburger. Shit, he thought, that's one of the fucking _slayers_ sitting over there eating fries he realised, spotting Faith from the company file kept on Sunnydale he had read before coming here. Was she here after him, Mercer wondered with alarm before he realised that she wouldn't have a clue what he looked like. Moreover the guy with the brown leather jacket on she was had been _ahead_ of him in the queue, Mercer now realised, so they hadn't followed him in and weren't therefore tailing, it was just a coincidence that might make for a good story to tell later at the bar W&H employees tended to frequent after work.

As Mercer relaxed Wesley did nothing of the sort. With Mayor Wilkins out of the way would the butterfly effect of changes the time-travelling watcher was making lead to Wolfram and Hart getting involved in the affairs of Sunnydale? Might he have made other mistakes that could potentially draw attention in his direction?

Pylea was a world that was under the domination of the Wolf, Ram and Hart so could changes to this world that affected the firm in some fashion start to affect the other realities they were involved with? If so how soon?

Wesley reached for his drink. 'Faith' he began. 'How would you like to go somewhere a little different for a summer holiday?' he asked nonchalantly.

'You mean a vacation?' Faith asked. 'Like somewhere I can lay by a pool and work on my tan?'

'Not sure about pools but even a vampire could get a tan in the place I have in mind' Wesley replied, putting the plastic straw in his drink into his mouth. It was time to go rescue Fred he had decided.

'Can Amy tag along?' Faith asked him.

'Actually that might not be a bad idea' Wesley replied, putting down his drink again. A witch might prove even more useful on Pylea than a slayer or even his trusty pump-action shotgun he theorised. He looked at the cow and chicken on the doublemeat logo and recalled with distaste that the human slaves on Pylea were called cows by their demon masters being used as meat animals as well as beasts of burden.

'I hope that's not the secret ingredient' Wesley said, grimacing as he regarded his burger.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

___Delta Zeta Kappa was a fraternity at Crestwood College featured in BtVS episode 2:05 Reptile Boy. For generations they had been sacrificing young girls to the demon Machida but their luck ran out when they tried to sacrifice Buffy._

___Lee Mercer was a Wolfram & Hart Lawyer seen in Angel. He was arrogant and more than a little obnoxious (Faith beat him to a pulp when he foolishly pissed her off). The LAPD "belong" to W&H according to an off-handed comment in Angel Season 5 and when the bullets which killed Mayor Wilkins were found to match those Wesley shot Professor Seidel with the information was passed onto the law firm who are investigating the connection._**_  
_**


	15. Chapter 15

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

* * *

**Wells Residence – Sunnydale – May 17th 1999**

'I don't know what you're talking about' Tucker Wells protested as the brunette he thought he recognised from school manhandled him down the stairs to his basement, his arm locked painfully behind his back. He had only just got back from a quick trip to the Seven-Eleven to pick up some magazines and a bag of chips and had been grabbed by the chick waiting in ambush for him as soon as he got inside the front door.

'Save it' Faith responded curtly. 'Your little brother already spilled the beans after he let us in' she said as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

'Andrew you goddamn dweeb' Tucker hissed at his sibling who was stood next to the hellhound cage in the basement wearing a sheepish expression. The creature itself lay uncharacteristically still and quiet on the cage floor which was probably due to the arrow sticking out of its head.

'Sorry Tucker' Andrew apologised. 'They threatened to beat me up' he explained as the unshaven English guy came out of the other room carrying a small crossbow.

'Take out the other three Wes?' Faith asked her watcher.

'Job done' Wesley confirmed. 'Or _almost_ done I should say' he corrected himself, directing a very disconcerting look at an increasingly nervous Tucker Wells.

'Who the hell are you?' Tucker asked, struggling to break the girl's grip.

Wesley fixed him with a cold look. 'Since you are clearly well-aware from your acquisition of these demonic hellhounds that there are indeed things that go bump in the night Mr Wells perhaps I should introduce us as the people that bump back' he replied. 'Regardless of that I do now find myself in a quandary as to what to do with you.'

'They're not going to kill us are they?' the younger of the Tucker brothers whimpered.

'Shut up Andrew' Tucker snarled at him.

'We're not are we?' Faith queried nervously. 'I mean I'm okay with giving Tucker here a few cuts and bruises, or maybe break his arm to teach him a lesson, but he's still human even if he _is_ an asshole' she noted.

Wesley sighed. 'While it would be more expedient to put a crossbow bolt into his skull like I did his pets that would be overstepping the mark' he agreed. 'Andrew already helpfully explained how you got hold of these creatures...'

'My flying monkeys that attacked the school play were far cooler' Andrew piped up before a glare from Tucker shut him up again.

'But we still don't know why you wanted to do it and I must confess a certain curiosity about it' Wesley continued, ignoring the interruption.

'I have my reasons' Tucker replied, his tone indicating he had no intention of revealing what they were. 'The girl I asked to go with me said no!' he suddenly exclaimed when Faith exerted a little more force and twisted his arm very painfully.

Wesley sighed again. 'You're a deeply sad, self-centred, petty-minded little sod' he told Tucker sincerely. 'Don't ever attract our attention again or we will cause you _considerable_ pain and anguish' he vowed.

'Same goes for you' Faith added to Tucker's little brother.

'Let him go Faith' Wesley ordered. 'I think we've made our point' he said, the slayer doing as she was told.

Tucker snapped around and with a snarl on his face threw a punch at Faith. With a slightly bored expression she caught his fist in her hand, squeezed painfully and twisting his arm then applied leverage to force him to his knees. 'Jesus Christ' Tucker hissed in pain. She was even stronger than he had thought she was. It didn't even look like she was putting in much effort.

'Obnoxious little git isn't he?' Wesley observed.

'Can I bust his nose?' Faith requested.

'It might make for a useful lesson' Wesley agreed, nodding. With luck the injury would finally get the gravity of the situation across to Tucker before sterner sanctions were required... such as a .45 calibre bullet to the back of the head for instance.

Andrew watched in horror as the girl jabbed his older brother right in the face with her free hand, her fist smashing his nose all over his face with a sickening crunch and a spray of red. She let him go and he collapsed to the floor in pain, tears now mixing with the blood as he lay in a heap and moaned.

'Tucker!' Andrew exclaimed, his body language looking like he didn't know whether to run or try and help his brother by attacking one of the intruders.

'Now don't be silly' Wesley warned the younger brother. 'This is over now and there's no need for you to get hurt as well' he advised, sounding almost paternal in tone. 'Tucker is getting off light here considering his plan might have led to several people being badly injured or worse' he opined. 'We're leaving now and we won't be back unless either of you do something foolish to bring us back so the matter is closed.'

'Just get out' Andrew told them as forcefully as he could, though with the way his voice was trembling it lacked much authority.

Faith smirked. 'See you in school next semester 'she told Andrew. 'But I'd better not see your brother _ever_ again for his sake' she added before she and Wesley headed for the stairs, the watcher taking the pistol crossbow apart as he did so he could fit the parts into his jacket pockets.

As they trooped up the stairs Andrew found a handkerchief in his pocket and handed it to Tucker before helping him to his feet. 'Want some ice for that?' he asked.

'Goth to geth to teh thospital' Tucker replied, his voice muffled by the cloth he was now holding over his face and distorted by his broken nose.

Andrew nodded. They'd probably have to reset his brother's nose because that girl had really smushed it he thought. 'Told you that summoning those hellhounds would cause trouble' he said knowingly.

'Fluck du Androo' Tucker responded.

Leaving the Wells residence Faith wished Wesley hadn't parked up his motorcycle in the centre of town because now they were going to have to walk all the way back. It wasn't too far but it was warm and sunny and her usual ensemble of dark colours and tight clothing wasn't as ideal for Southern California as it had been in Boston. 'Hurt your knuckles on that boys face did you?' her watcher asked as he observed her checking them.

'Nah, just making sure there wasn't any blood on them' Faith replied. 'That prick was really going to unleash those things on the Prom tomorrow night wasn't he?' she asked rhetorically.

'So it seems' Wesley responded, putting his hands in his pockets as they walked together towards downtown Sunnydale.

'And just because some girl turned him down' Faith continued, shaking her head sadly.

'It does rather strike one as an overreaction towards rejection' Wesley concurred.

Faith half turned her head towards him. 'Ever get your heart broken by a girl?' she asked curiously.

'Every time I'm given a cup of tea by a waitress when the water wasn't boiling when it met the tealeaves and the milk wasn't already in the cup when the tea was poured in' Wesley replied bitterly.

'No I mean seriously' Faith told him.

'I _was_ being serious' Wesley told her. 'And I'm holding a grudge about you Boston people and that Tea Party escapade too' he joked.

'Come on Wes' Faith persisted.

'Very well yes I've had my heart broken by a girl' Wesley admitted. 'Please note that although upset I never thought to unleash vicious, feral beasts on innocent bystanders so I feel no sympathy for Tucker Wells as a result' he said.

Faith smiled, she knew he wasn't as heartless as he pretended to be. 'So what happened?' she pried.

'The girl of my dreams chose my best friend over me' Wesley replied glumly. And when I eventually _did_ get her later she died shortly afterwards he thought to himself wondering if that piece of bad karma had been truly deserved or not.

'Oh that must have sucked' Faith replied, wincing.

'You'll never know, or at least I hope you never do' Wesley responded, shaking off the memory.

'Angel dumped B, did you hear that?' Faith asked.

'Giles mentioned it warning me that Buffy might be a tad fragile for a while and that I should try and treat her with kid gloves for a while' Wesley replied. 'Probably for the best to be honest' he continued, 'because as far as tragically doomed romances are concerned a vampire in love with a slayer puts Romeo and Juliet very much to shame' he said.

'I wouldn't say that in front of her if I was you unless you want a nose like Tucker back there' Faith advised.

'He would have done it for her sake you know' Wesley said. 'It's quite a selfless move on his part I'd argue.'

'Not like he was getting any though' Faith pointed out.

Wesley smiled knowingly. 'Perhaps he'll eventually find consolation in the arms of another blond' he suggested. Having met Buffy, Darla, Kate Lockley and Nina Ash it had become clearly apparent to Wesley that Angel tended to gravitate towards woman of a certain hair colour.

'It's hot, wanna grab a soda?' Faith suggested.

'Do I have to pay for yours?' Wesley asked suspiciously.

'Nah' Faith replied. 'I'll even buy yours' she offered.

'Good grief it really must be hot' Wesley declared. 'You must have sunstroke' he said sardonically.

Faith narrowed her eyes. 'I'm going to ask B if she wants to swap watchers' she muttered. 'If her head isn't straight because of Fang she might be messed up enough to say yes.'

'Good, she'd cost me less money' Wesley retorted.

'Buffy wouldn't go along with half the shit you suggest that I do Wes' Faith stated confidently. 'She's way too nice and well adjusted.'

'I'd have to agree, she's just not what I'm looking for in a slayer' Wesley conceded reluctantly. 'No fun whatsoever.'

'You do know that our definition of fun is totally screwed up dontcha?' Faith checked.

'I'm not that far gone' Wesley reassured her.

'Just don't let me catch you heading towards any clock-towers with that freaking rifle you brought back to the house yesterday' Faith told him semi-seriously.

'It's for hunting, not role-playing Charles Whitman' Wesley replied evenly. 'I had to wait ten days before they'd give it to me as well and the gunstore insisted on checking my documentation twice because I'm a non-citizen and he thought I looked disreputable.'

'So you _do_ have a Green Card then?' Faith asked. 'I did wonder.'

'Of course I've got a Green Card' Wesley replied, the Watchers Council was very adept at ensuring all its members had the proper, legal documentation.

'So what are you going to hunt anyway?' Faith wanted to know. 'Deer?'

'No, but it starts with the same two letters' Wesley replied.

'I'm not going to come home one day find the head of a Polgara Demon or something mounted over the fireplace am I?' Faith asked him.

Wesley pursed his lips. 'Wouldn't match the wallpaper' he decided eventually.

They eventually arrived back at the former Frat House not long before Amy arrived bearing an overnight bag, a number of music CD's that were sure to drive Wesley off to a bar later and a menu for the only Chinese Restaurant in town that delivered.

Devouring chow mein, spring rolls and sweet and sour pork at a rate and quantity which her mother would have thrown a fit about, and possibly thrown Amy around the room telekinetically too, the witch almost seemed more enthusiastic and positive about joining in Wesley's planned excursion to another world than he did. 'Just as long as "Hell Dimension" doesn't mean lava flows and red dudes with horns on their heads, tails and pitchforks I'm in' she said as they ate together in the spacious living room. Their dinner was laid out on a low table in front of the couch Amy shared with Faith while Wesley sat on the edge of an easy chair across from them.

'For the sake of full disclosure the Deathwok Clan at least _do_ have horns' Wesley admitted, 'but they're mostly green in colour not red and the species lack tails' he told her. 'As for pitchforks my research would indicate they're an agrarian society, albeit with some hunter-gatherer holdouts, so those are a possibility' he added, tackling some spare ribs in Peking Sauce.

Faith was still attempting to master chopsticks at Wesley's suggestion but so far had only managed to scatter rice all over the place. 'How exactly did you manage to find out about this place anyhow?' she asked him, finally abandoning the damn sticks for a fork.

Wesley stopped gnawing on the rib in his hands. 'While I was in LA researching the portal spells needed to get to the alternate reality the vampire Willow hailed from I found a book dealing with inter-dimensional travel and Pylea in particular' the watcher said as he weaved a little truth into his lies.

'And you really think people have been ending up there?' Amy asked.

'The mysterious disappearance of a student a couple of years ago at the place I happened to find the book struck me as a little too coincidental' Wesley replied before starting on the rib again. 'Also there are stories of humans living on Pylea as well as demons.'

'But you say it's not a rescue mission?' Amy queried.

Faith shrugged. 'If we find anyone there we'll bring them back' she said. 'And Wes says we'll like look for the chick that went missing because it's the right thing to do' the slayer continued, 'but mostly we're there to kick ass and heist some shit' she said, grinning.

'This is a robbery?' Amy exclaimed, raising her eyebrows.

'It's not like we're planning to knock over a bank or anything' Faith responded. 'Supposedly this Pylea place has like this fantastic crown jewels with loads of gold, diamonds, rubies and shit so we figure why let the fucking demons keep it?' she asked rhetorically.

'Because it's like _theirs_ maybe?' Amy suggested.

Wesley finished tearing the meat off his spare rib with his teeth. 'If it salves your conscience on the matter humans on Pylea are supposedly used as slave labour' he told the witch. 'And as food on occasion' he added, holding up the rib-bone meaningfully before throwing it onto an empty plate.

'Food?' Amy repeated aghast. 'You mean like the demons suck their blood.'

'No, as in the demons butcher them and put them on a spit' Wesley replied. 'If I have the translation right humans there are actually referred to as "cows" and really are treated as little more than cattle by their Masters' he told her. 'I intend to send a clear message regarding what happens to creatures that prey on humanity _wherever_ it occurs' he said coldly, hoping that a little melodrama would aid his case.

'We're going to bust some heads' Faith stated, nodding her agreement. 'Taking the money too is just... what did you call it Wes?' she asked him.

'Reparations' Wesley answered.

Faith leaned forward and speared a spring roll with her fork. 'Should keep us in wooden stakes, swords and crossbows for a while too' she said.

'Doesn't the Watcher's Council cover expenses like that?' Amy queried.

'The percentage of the annual budget allocated to field supplies is a bad joke' Wesley responded. 'They'll spend a hundred thousand pounds on buying occult books of dubious authenticity without turning a hair but just try asking for a few quid to buy a decent set of throwing knives and see where it'll get you' he said bitterly.

'You'll get a share of the payout too, natch' Faith told Amy.

'Of course you'll be expected to earn it' Wesley added meaningfully.

'You mean like helping open the portal?' Amy asked.

'Yes that' Wesley confirmed, 'also a locator spell or two most likely' he said. 'Plus if we encounter resistance I expect to see you earn your share of the reward by handling your fair share of the fighting.'

Amy blinked. 'I'm not much of a fighter or anything' she responded nervously.

'We were thinking telekinesis and spellcasting rather than envisioning you head-butting demons or swinging a sword Amy' Wesley told her, amused by the very notion.

'Oh' Amy replied, casting her eyes downwards. 'I mean I can do that stuff, not as well as my Mom could but I can' she admitted, 'I just don't want to push it too much' she said apologetically. 'I've seen what magic addiction can do especially when you do too much of the bad stuff.'

'You don't want to end up like your Mom' Faith stated. 'I can dig it, I don't want to end up a drunk like mine did' she sympathised.

'For that matter I'd rather not end up an insufferable tosser like my father' Wesley continued for his part, 'but just because you meddle in the dark arts a little that doesn't mean you're on a sure-fire path to perdition Amy' he told the witch. 'A little willpower and self-control is all that's required to ensure that you control the magicks they don't control you' he said.

Amy turned her head slightly and looked askance at Wesley. 'Nice pep-talk but how would _you_ know?' she asked him sarcastically.

Faith laughed. 'I think that's your cue' she suggested to her watcher.

'Seems like the opportune moment' Wesley agreed, holding out his right hand palm facing upwards. 'My repertoire is rather limited I'm afraid so Faith has seen this before' he informed Amy before saying a quick spell under his breath.

Amy's eyes widened as a small flame flickered to life above Wesley's palm and increased in size to become a ball of shimmering mystical fire the size of a small apple. 'If he keeps this up for much longer his eyes go totally black which freaked me the fuck out when I walked in on him practicing a few weeks back' Faith told her, grinning.

'That's enough to make the point I think' Wesley decided, the fireball in his hand disappearing. 'Sometimes I swear I can smell my skin start to char' he complained, bringing his hand to his mouth and blowing on it.'

'You're a warlock' Amy said in amazement.

'Not hardly' Wesley denied, shaking his head. 'I'm an amateur meddler at best' he told her self-depreciatingly. 'That's why we need your assistance' he told Amy, 'I could never be as powerful as you are now no matter how much I trained and practiced' he said, 'and that's despite the fact you're still nowhere near to reaching your potential' he continued. 'The fireball may have seemed impressive but to be honest it's the only halfway-decent trick in my extremely limited repertoire' he admitted.

Faith leaned back on the couch. 'The way I see it is if Wes can work the mojo and still be one of the good guys so can you' she told Amy. 'So are you in?' she asked.

Amy thought about it. 'Okay I'm in' she agreed, smiling.

'Also other than me you're the only person who knows Wes's hobby so don't mention it in front of B or Giles because I bet they'd freak' Faith told Amy.

'From what I gather Rupert's own history of involvement with the arts makes him a little wary of them' Wesley remarked, still inspecting his palm for a burn mark which wasn't there.

'I can keep a secret' Amy promised, hand on heart. 'Shit' she swore, 'I think I just got grease on my top' she realised, looking down at where she had put her hand without wiping it clean from the Chinese food.

'I'll lend you one of mine before we head over to the party' Faith offered.

'Party?' Wesley queried.

'Oh yeah, I got invited to a party tonight at one of the other Frat Houses in the College' Faith told him. 'I mean one that actually still has Frat-boys in it.'

Wesley smirked. 'If they were looking for virgin sacrifices just make sure they know you don't meet the required qualification' he said, Faith glaring at him while Amy blushed. 'I'm going to find a bar and then meet Buffy on patrol' he said.

'She knows I'm taking the night off in return for her being free to go to the Prom tomorrow right?' Faith checked.

'Is she still going after breaking up with her boyfriend?' Amy asked, unsure.

'Haven't been told she _isn't_ going' Faith replied.

'Something tells me Angel will still turn up for a dance or two' Wesley said, 'call it male intuition' he told them when they looked at him doubtfully. 'The Pylea mission goes ahead in three days so try to get some sleep before then as we need to make the portal transition in LA and we'll be starting out early Thursday morning' he said. He was going to pick up the SUV they would be taking through the portal the day before.

'We're keeping the Pylea thing secret too right?' Amy checked. 'Until we get back I mean.'

'Oh yeah' Faith confirmed. 'And try not to _ever_ mention the loot' she requested.

Amy pursed her lips. 'So we're not like _totally_ the good guys then?' she wanted to make sure.

Faith and Wesley looked at each other before turning back towards her. 'Weren't the clothes enough of a hint?' Faith asked rhetorically. 'Just because we're in the business of kicking evil's ass it don't mean we've got to be squeaky clean, right Wes?' she looked to her watcher for affirmation.

'It's not what you do, or how you do it, but who you do it _to_ that really matters' Wesley responded with some of his personal philosophy, thinking that might actually make a good motto.

'Okay, I'm cool with that' Amy told them cheerfully after thinking it through. 'So, is anyone else going to want any more of that rice?' she asked.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

_Tucker Wells, older brother of Andrew Wells summoned, trained and unleashed three Hellhounds against the Sunnydale High School Prom in BtVS episode 3:20 The Prom. Wesley snipped that one neatly in the bud here._


	16. Chapter 16

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

* * *

**Melrose Avenue – Los Angeles – May 20th 1999**

'So why here exactly?' Faith queried as they waited parked up at the side of the road, just across from the Paramount Lot of all places.

'Because there's a psychic hotspot just in front of the studio gates there' Wesley replied, leaning back in the driver's seat. The SUV was fairly spacious so he could at least stretch out a bit.

'Aren't we worried about witnesses?' Amy asked reasonably from the back seat where she was sprawled out and idly leafing through a magazine.

'The traffic is already thinning out, it won't be long before the number of passers-by is at an acceptable level' Wesley told her. 'The LAPD tend to ignore reports of strange phenomena, particularly at night' he said confidently as the sun continued to set. They might inform Wolfram-Hart who would most likely investigate themselves but after this excursion Wesley didn't much care how future events unfurled.

Faith shrugged, she guessed Wesley knew what he was doing because he was always the man-with-the-plan and so far he hadn't shown much of a track record in screwing up. That earned him some leeway regarding the provision of details and explanations in her book. 'So do you really think we'll need all that crap in the trunk?'

'Probably not, but better to have it and not need it than the reverse' Wesley replied, they had visited a camping and sporting goods store earlier just in case their visit to Pylea ended up longer than expected and various supplies and equipment as well as an assortment of weapons lay under a tarpaulin in the back of the large four-wheel-drive they had hired. 'As the Boy Scout motto says: Be Prepared' he quoted.

'You were a Boy Scout?' Faith responded, laughing. 'I can't really picture you in one of those uniforms with a neckerchief and a stupid hat' she said. 'Way too wholesome.'

'You wouldn't think it was wholesome if you knew some of the things I've applied my wide knowledge of knots towards' Wesley replied, smirking back at her.

'Too much information' Amy stated from the back of the SUV, sitting up. 'Hey is that short guy watching us?' she queried, spotting a man nearby half-concealed by the shadows.

'Nah, he's just been hanging around the last five minutes' Faith replied. 'I think he's waiting for someone' she said. 'Maybe he's a drug dealer or something?' she suggested.

'If he's trying not to look suspicious that hat isn't helping' Amy opined, putting down her magazine, yawning and stretching.

Trying not to be seen and failing in the task despite plenty of experience in lurking around in the shadows Whistler checked his watch once again and wished that the Powers-That-Be could be less cryptic when they sent him a message to be somewhere at a certain time. 'Something had better happen soon because if it doesn't in the next ten minutes I'm going to find the nearest bar' he said quietly to himself.

The sound of footsteps approaching caused Whistler to hunker further into the shadows but when he saw who it was he emerged again, unconcerned by the new arrival but frowning because this was an unusual state of affairs. 'Doyle' he greeted the newcomer. 'What the hell are you doing here?' he asked the other man.

'Got a vision' Allen Francis Doyle replied to the balance-demon in human form, tapping the side of his head.

'Those still hurt?' Whistler inquired.

'Yes' Doyle confirmed flatly, looking around. 'I guess you don't know why we're here either then?' he checked.

'No but it must be big if The Powers wanted us both on the ground' Whistler reasoned. 'Not like there's a lot of us non-evil demons in LA' he noted. Fact was they were spread pretty thin at the best of times.

'Half-demon' Doyle responded. 'Not even that if you measure it by how much of the day I spend with my face spikey.'

Whistler chuckled. 'Even if you had only one drop of demon you wouldn't be pure enough for most people man' he replied.

Doyle sighed. 'Yeah and on the other side if I only had the one drop of human I'd still not be demon enough for the fecking scourge' he muttered. 'World's full of bigots on both sides.'

'So what did you see in your vision?' Whistler asked.

'The Paramount Gates and not much else' Doyle replied. 'That and I knew I needed to be here now' he added. 'You?' he queried.

'Don't know any more than that myself' Whistler told him apologetically. 'We need to get the guys upstairs to start sending more information.'

'I'd be happy if they learned to use a telephone or send faxes instead of giving me migraines' Doyle complained. 'Hell if they got on-line I could pick up their emails at an internet café, grab a coffee at the same time' he said before sighing again. 'So I heard something about you and a vampire with a soul?' he asked, making conversation.

'Sometimes with, sometimes without' Whistler replied. 'I think he'll be okay as long as he can keep off that slayer' he said, 'and maybe turn down the tortured hero seeking redemption shtick before it gets old.'

'I like the hat by the way, might get one myself' Doyle remarked to Whistler.

'Slippery slope to it becoming like a uniform' Whistler replied, smiling. 'Might as well wear badges that say "Balance Demon" or something.'

'Or t-shirts that say I worked for the Powers-That-Be and all I got was this lousy headache' Doyle joked.

'We definitely need a better union' Whistler said. 'We don't even have a dental plan.'

'And the 401K sucks' Doyle agreed, nodding.

'You know I did hear of a guy called Skip trying to organise some collective bargaining, maybe lead us out on strike if The Powers don't at least match _some_ of what they're offering the staff over at Wolfram Hart' Whistler told him.

'It'll never happen' Doyle dismissed the idea. 'Too many willing to scab because they think the mission is more important that the poor slobs doing the work.'

'Yeah, I mean if we could get the Oracles on board we might be onto something but I can't see them on a picket line' Whistler agreed.

Doyle checked his watch, he had only just managed to get it back from the pawnbrokers that morning after a bet on the ponies came out good for once. 'I can't believe I missed the Season Finale of ER for this.'

'The little blond chick on that now is very doable' Whistler observed. 'Problem is I remember her being a kid on that show Life Goes On' he added sadly, 'makes it feel wrong.'

'For me it would gotta be Nurse Hathaway' Doyle told the balance-demon as a car started nearby.

'Yeah she ain't bad' Whistler agreed just before a crack of thunder and a bright flash had them both spinning to stare in the direction of the Paramount Gates. 'Okay, that's interesting' he said as a large inter-dimensional portal opened, the vortex swirling in mid-air, lightning crackling around it.

'Something coming through?' Doyle suggested nervously.

'Going out' Whistler replied as an SUV pulled out and accelerated towards the portal, the vortex swallowing it up before closing.

'Okay, that was cool I guess' Doyle said. 'Hey I think they left a book behind' he continued, the two of them running over to where a large tome was now lying in the road just where the portal had opened.

Whistler bent down and picked up the book, it looked old and distinctly occult in nature. 'SCRSQWRN' he read the title on opening it, getting the pronunciation much better than Doyle could have possibly managed. Of course compared to his people's own language the text was relatively easy to speak aloud, of terrestrial species only a dolphin could say his real name properly. 'Um, I think this is for you man' he said, finding what looked like a hastily written note written in English onto the inside cover and turning the book around so Doyle could read it.

Doyle started to read aloud. 'Doyle' he began. 'Glad I spotted you there and recognised you from the video' it said, 'thought I should give you some advice' he continued to read. 'Firstly keep a watch out for the Scourge, they'll be arriving in LA soon,' it said, 'and secondly your wife is seeing an Ano-Movic demon but you can probably win her back' the note in the book continued. 'If you can't win her back I highly suggest you read up on their traditions regarding ex-husbands' it advised. 'Best Wishes, A Friend of a Friend.'

'Weird' Whistler said, raising his eyebrows, 'I mean even by our standards.'

'Probably another cryptic Powers-That-Be thing' Doyle reasoned.

'I don't think so' Whistler replied doubtfully. 'Still, show's over I guess' he decided. 'Wanna grab a beer?' he asked.

Doyle closed the book and tucked it under his arm, he could show it to a few experts in this stuff tomorrow. 'Sounds like a plan' he agreed, the two of them heading off in the direction of the nearest place to get a drink just as an SUV flew out of a portal on Pylea and stopped just before it hit a tree. 'Did I tell you I liked the hat' he praised Whistler's headgear again.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

_When the "Fang Gang" traveled to Pylea in AtS episode 2:20 Over the Rainbow they do so via a psychic hotspot in front of Paramount Studios, opening the portal using SCRSQWRN which gets left behind._

_Whistler is a Balance-Demon who works for The Powers-That-Be. Another demon (or half-demon) that works for them (or rather gets painful visions from them) is Allen Francis Doyle who would also be on Wesley's informal "People to help out if possible" list._


	17. Chapter 17

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

* * *

**Edge of the Great Northern Forest – Pylea – May 21st 1999**

Wesley had managed to pull up before they hit a tree on the other side of the portal but just barely and he had looked suitably chastened when Faith asked him through gritted teeth why he hadn't just driven through the thing more slowly.

Pylea was not exactly what Faith or Amy had been expecting. If it wasn't for the _two_ suns overhead both might have assumed the portal had merely transported them somewhere else on Earth, or maybe just to a forest elsewhere in California a few hours later after the sun rose again, but after the initial disappointment of a "Hell Dimension" sorely lacking in volcanoes and lava flows they quickly got over it.

Given that one bunch of trees looked much like another Wesley really had no idea whether he was anywhere near the castle belonging to the Covenant of Trombli, or Fred's cave for that matter, so his first priority had been to get Amy to cast a locator spell and help earn herself a share of the Pylean Crown Jewels.

'So, we just follow the ball of light?' Faith queried as Amy started to generate a glowing electric- blue sphere of energy between her hands.

'Kinda' Amy replied. 'If I've got the spell right it should go straight up, fly in a circle above us for a couple of loops and then shoot off towards this chick we're looking for' she replied, 'assuming she's still alive anyway' she continued. 'Once it gets near her, I mean within a few of hundred yards, it should evaporate and I'll feel when that happens.'

'Giving us not only an idea of direction but also how far away we are' Wesley noted.

'Why not find the castle place first and _then_ the chick?' Faith wanted to know. It was nice to rescue someone while they were here but the loot was the main justification for the trip in her mind.

'Because locator spells work best if you've got something of the person or destination to get a psychic fix on and Wes managed to find something of hers' Amy responded. 'Sorry but I need to concentrate' she added, closing her eyes and trying to tune out everything but the magicks she was summoning.

Faith walked closer to Wesley. 'What did you get?' she whispered so as not to disturb Amy..

Wesley smiled and pulled a small stuffed animal toy from a satchel he had hanging over his shoulder. 'Found it in storage at her old university' he replied showing Faith the rabbit. 'I'm hoping the girl knows where the castle is, it'll save time.'

'Makes sense' Faith agreed, her watcher was always the-man-with-the-plan and thinking ahead. 'So if it's a long way we drive right?' she checked.

'Right' Wesley confirmed. Ideally they wouldn't have to draw that much attention to themselves, an SUV running around Pylea wouldn't exactly be inconspicuous, but he didn't want to have to walk for days either if they'd arrived much further away from their intended destination than planned.

Amy finally got the spell exactly right, I need more practice she thought to herself, and launched the blue sphere of energy into the sky high above the treetops. As expected it flew in a couple of lazy loops before veering off in another direction and hurtling away out of sight.

Wesley had started counting the seconds on his watch as soon as the ball of energy generated by the locator spell shot off towards its destination. It should be moving at around two hundred and fifty leagues an hour according to the spell book Amy had used, making it just barely supersonic once you converted the units.

After what seemed like a _very_ long wait to Faith Amy eventually said "Now" and Wesley started to do the math. At that speed the ball of mystical energy would have travelled roughly three miles for every fifteen seconds in was in flight.

'No more than ten miles I'd say' Wesley told them with satisfaction.

'Shotgun' Amy called before Faith could claim the passenger seat again.

'It's still in the boot' Wesley responded, 'I mean the trunk' he added, translating from English to American.

'No I mean I get to ride in the front of the car' Amy explained.

Wesley smiled. 'We're walking' he told her.

'Ten miles!' Amy exclaimed in horror.

'That's three hours in this terrain if we keep up a steady pace' Wesley told her.

'Told ya you shoulda broken in those new boots more' Faith said to Amy, laughing.

Amy grimaced at the idea of blisters. 'I've got a spell that I think can make me fly' she said. 'Can I do that instead?' she suggested hopefully.

'No, not even if you were _certain_ it would work' Wesley replied sternly. 'We need you with as much magical energy to call on as possible in case things turn bad' he said. 'Wasting it because you don't want to get sore feet is frivolous.'

'Yeah, suck it up Sabrina' Faith told Amy, still grinning.

'I hate that show' Amy muttered despondently as Wesley started to retrieve the rest of his gear from the SUV, starting with his rucksack.

'Just be grateful we're not carrying that much on the way there' Wesley advised, taking off his satchel before putting on the rucksack then replacing it. Other than the stuffed rabbit toy the satchel also contained ammunition for his recently purchased hunting rifle.

'I always thought you Limey's didn't like guns' Faith observed when Wesley added a bandolier of shotgun shells over his other shoulder, the pistol-grip pump-action itself secured to the rucksack so he could reach behind and draw it when required.

'On the contrary' Wesley replied, 'we always made great sport of gunning down the sword and spear armed natives of other countries with firearms' he replied, now picking up the Weatherby Mark V bolt-action rifle. Made in California it had seemed like a nice touch to purchase a rifle made in the state he lived in, and besides which the .300 Weatherby Magnum bullet was well suited to either big-game hunting or blowing large holes in demons. 'Do remember to pick up the radio and your CD's as well as your crossbow Faith' he requested.

'It's called a boombox Wes' Faith replied, rolling her eyes. 'And were you really being serious about that thing being our secret weapon?' she asked doubtfully.

'Oh yes, according to my research the locals will hate your taste in music even more than I do' Wesley replied. 'Oh do come on Amy, we still need to camouflage the car under some brush and for you to cast a spell of concealment to back that up before we get going' he chivvied the young witch along. 'Be grateful that our bags aren't nearly as full or heavy as we hope they'll be returning to this place.'

'I want to carry silver and jewels' Amy insisted, concealment spells weren't too hard, they were basically a glamour with more power behind them. 'Faith can carry the gold, it's heavy and she's stronger than me' she pointed out to Wesley. 'Or you' she added.

'Or both of you put together' Faith said, smirking.

'Well done for volunteering to carry the bulk of the loot Faith' Wesley praised the slayer.

'Crap' Faith swore when she failed to quickly come up with a good reason why she shouldn't. Sometimes having super-powers had its downside, like for instance when people needed a pack mule.

Resisting the urge to start singing an old hiking song like "The Happy Wanderer" for fear of looking like a complete tosser Wesley set a good pace which he judged wasn't too tough on Amy, although she did start grumbling after the first hour and insisted on a five-minute break.

The similarities of the flora of this region of Pylea to that of parts of California had always indicated to Wesley that portals between the two must have happened numerous times over the years, starting long before Oliver Seidel started dispatching his more promising students to the other dimension. Perhaps it was because of the Wolf, Ram and Hart he wondered, considering it possible that there was a stronger than normal connection between the places because of their interference and involvement in both?

So lost was he in pondering the issue that Wesley didn't notice the hellhound that came bounding out of the trees ahead towards him until a bolt from Faith's crossbow shot past his ear and impaled the creature. 'Buggeration' Wesley exclaimed, shouldering his rifle and working the bolt before aiming the weapon at the demon which was now writhing on the ground in pain and clawing at the crossbow bolt sticking out of its body.

'Wakey wakey Wes' Faith said in clear amusement at the situation while she re-loaded her crossbow.

'What have you cows done to my dog?' another humanoid demon who had been following the hellhound cried out in dismay as he now appeared in turn.

'Did that thing just call us cows?' Amy responded, narrowing her eyes.

'It was coming right at us ugly, what would _you_ have done?' Faith replied to the demon.

'Damn uppity cows' the demon hissed at them. 'Did you steal that crossbow from your betters?' he asked.

'No I bought it at a sporting goods store' Faith told the demon. 'And what the fuck do you mean by "betters" jerkoff?' she demanded to know, aiming her crossbow at the demon menacingly.

'Calm down Faith, you just shot an arrow into what appears to be the man's pet hellhound' Wesley noted, lowering his rifle since it didn't seem like the unarmed demon was about to try and attack them. 'We're very sorry about your... dog' he apologised.

The demon glared at them. 'When I tell the Imperial Guard about three escaped slaves running around out here armed...'

'Shoot him Faith' Wesley ordered.

'Okay' Faith replied, pulling the trigger and shooting another crossbow bolt into the hellhound owners neck, a spray of strangely coloured blood jetting out to one side of the bolt where it must have nicked a main artery.

Wesley dispassionately watched the demon collapse into a heap, gurgling on its own blood. 'Sorry but I really couldn't allow you to warn the authorities' he told it, shouldering his rifle and pulling a very large knife from a sheath on his belt.

'What are you going to do Wes?' Faith asked him as he walked over to the dying demon.

'Stab the poor blighter in his left arse cheek, nothing to be gained from making him suffer any longer than we have to' Wesley replied, turning the demon over with his boot and then stabbing it where the heart lay for most demon clans on Pylea. 'Don't kill unless you have to, but if you _do_ have to try and be as merciful as you can' he told the two teenage girls.

'Wasn't it just a demon?' Amy queried. 'I mean why does it matter?' she asked.

Wesley wiped his knife clean on the demon's clothing before returning it to its sheath. 'Because part of being the good guys is doing the right thing whenever possible' he replied. Wesley believed in prioritising the smart move over what some might consider to be the morally good move but there was no justification for being needlessly cruel or heartless for the sake of it.

'But nobody else would ever know' Amy pointed out.

'Integrity Amy is doing the right thing even when nobody else is looking' Wesley responded sagely. 'You still have to live with yourself after all.'

'You two get going, I'll finish off the hellhound, get back my crossbow bolts and then catch up' Faith told the others. Wesley should be more alert now after that scare she reasoned.

'Try not to get any demon blood on yourself' Wesley advised.

Faith looked alarmed. 'It's not going to poison me or turn me telepathic again like the stuff from the demons with no mouth did is it?' she asked, that had nearly killed her.

'No, you'll just never be able to wash it out of your clothes' Wesley warned before setting off again, Amy following and making sure not to get near either of the demons.

A few miles further on they came upon a well-worn track through the forest that seemed to be heading in the same direction they were. Not wanting to run into anyone else Wesley chose not to walk along it but rather through the forest parallel to the track, deep enough into the trees that they might not be easily seen by travellers along it.

Spotting movement on the track themselves not long after Wesley used the telescopic sight on his rifle to get a better look and observed a few men in armour travelling on horseback along it. 'Imperial Guard patrol' he whispered as they took cover on the ground among some bushes.

'We could take their horses' Amy suggested, she could just make the figures out herself.

'Can you ride Faith?' Wesley inquired.

'I'm from South Boston, what do you think?' Faith replied sarcastically.

Wesley smiled. 'I'll take that as a no' he said, continuing to watch the patrol go by. At this range I could probably take them all out with ease, he thought to himself, placing the crosshairs of his sight onto one of the riders. 'Remind me to sign you up with the Sunnydale Pony Club when we get back.'

'No - freaking - way' Faith stated with finality.

'I think you'd look good in tight jodhpurs' Wesley told her, trying not to laugh.

Guessing that jodhpurs were those goofy pants people wore on horses Faith sincerely doubted that was true even if she did know she had a nice ass. 'Can we get going now?' she asked.

'We'll wait for another minute until they're completely out of sight' Wesley replied, still looking through his rifle scope. 'We might be approaching what passes for civilisation here' he supposed.

'Mud huts?' Amy asked.

'Their technology is a tad more advanced than that' Wesley replied. 'As my research indicated they're at the medieval level judging by their armour for example' he said.

'So we're talking plagues and witches getting burned at the stake' Amy replied sardonically.

'Didn't Buffy's Mom try and burn you at the stake once?' Faith asked rhetorically. 'Thought you'd be getting used to it by now.'

'Yeah, but on the plus side when we visited Buffy's place last month her Mom did still look guilty about it and gave me the biggest slice of cake' Amy recalled.

'That would explain the expanding size of your ass' Faith observed. 'This walking is probably doing ya a lot of good.'

'There is nothing wrong with my ass' Amy objected loudly enough for Wesley to shush her.

Faith shrugged. 'Maybe if you're trying to pick up guys that like more junk in the trunk' she said.

'Wesley, is my ass fat?' Amy demanded to know.

Wesley sighed. 'It's a very becoming arse for a young lady' he replied eventually.

'He's just trying to be chivalrous' Faith stated. 'And I _told_ you he checks out our asses when he thinks we aren't looking.'

'I'm more of a leg man as it happens' Wesley told them, getting up and lowering his rifle. The mounted patrol of bucket-helmeted demons were now too far away to worry about being spotted by them.

'That's not actually a denial' Amy noted.

'Shall we be off' Wesley asked rhetorically, still ignoring the accusation and turning around to walk away from the girls, getting back on course to their destination.

Faith pursed her lips. 'Maybe we need to find him a girlfriend' she suggested to Amy.

I'm way ahead of you, Wesley thought to himself, trying not to laugh out loud.

The forest continued to thin out until meadows and small farms started to appear with Wesley finally starting to recognise a few geographical features from his previous visit to Pylea. If he had his bearings correctly the village wasn't very far to the west now with the castle some distance beyond it which meant Fred's cave couldn't be that far now.

Winifred Burkle had managed to figure out how to disable the techno-mystical slave-collar around her neck less than a year after she arrived and after escaping her slavery had fled into the woods, eventually finding a cave with a concealed entrance where she had made a home. Her need to occasionally venture back at night to steal food, and any other small useful items she could carry off, had prevented her moving further into the forest for safety.

It had been nearly two years now since she had escaped her former owners, a gathwok family, and despite attempts to track her down so far neither the local constable Narwek, nor the occasional patrol by the Imperial Guard, had gotten anywhere near her.

Fred was smart, very smart, and she was also resourceful, good with gadgets and a lot more strong-willed and determined than people might expect from looking at her. Unfortunately she was also gradually starting to lose her grip on her sanity and was finding it harder with every passing day to remember her previous life and not slip into despair.

Sometimes she thought that memories of being back at home with her parents were nothing but a dream that her mind came up with to get her through the day. For a while she had fantasised about finding a way to return but despite still trying to comprehend the mathematics that must be required to open a portal she just didn't know enough about them for that to be anything but a pipe-dream. On other occasions she imagined being saved by a handsome hero, like one of the simpering damsels-in-distress in the old black & white westerns her father liked, but that was even stupider than trying to open a portal home.

Fred worried that her mind might be starting to play other tricks on her. Sometimes after a few hours alone in her cave she thought she could hear her mother's voice. Other times it was Professor Seidel complaining about her penmanship, or her father saying that the new quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys wasn't fit to walk in Roger Staubach's shadow. Until now she hadn't been seeing things that weren't there too but the blue ball of light that streaked down from the sky earlier that morning while she was washing in a stream near her cave had really scared the tattered rags off her before it vanished into a puff of smoke.

Cowering in her cave Fred started to recite prime-numbers quietly to herself in sequence. It was one of the numerous coping mechanisms she had developed in order to try and keep it together but like the others it was starting to lose its effectiveness. Before too long she'd be so crazy that the idea she had about making enchiladas out of tree bark would seem like plausible notion worth investigating.

The sound of movement outside the entrance to her cave caused Fred to freeze and she instantly stopped whispering to herself straining to hear what it was.

'I'm telling you, the tracks I found while we were investigating that evil light I saw in the sky lead right here' a voice outside spoke.

'And I still think that the light you say you saw was just the flip liquor making you see things again' another voice replied.

'I saw it too and I wasn't drinking' a third voice interjected.

'So _you_ say' the second voice replied sarcastically.

'Shut up both of you' the first one to speak ordered, 'I've found a cave' it said.

Fred panicked and started frantically looking around even though she knew there was only one way in and one way out. 'Oh no, oh no' she said, trembling in fear just as a deathwok demon poked his head through the entrance.

'Well wouldn't you know it' the deathwok said happily. 'I've found that fugitive cow that's been stealing our food' it continued, looking right at Fred. 'Maybe it wasn't an evil light after all, maybe the gods just sent us a sign' it suggested, coming in after Fred.

Dragging her back outside the deathwok who had captured Fred looked suitably pleased with itself. 'After I swing the crebbil at the Bach-nal I want the largest share because this cow is really skinny' it said. All three deathwok were carrying swords which could have done the job just as well as the ceremonial crebbil axe but ritual and tradition required that the cow's beheading be made at the proper time and place and with the proper weapon

'Please just make it quick' Fred requested. There was no point in trying to struggle free, deathwok demons were stronger than humans, especially ones like Fred who were on the brink of starvation anyway.

One of the other deathwok demons inspected the metal ring around Fred's neck. 'A deactivated collar' it said. 'Clever little cow aren't you?' it asked rhetorically. 'Not clever enough to outsmart the crebbil though' it added, smirking.

Someone coughed behind them. 'Do you mind letting go of the young lady' it requested. 'She doesn't seem to be appreciating the attention.'

The three deathwok turned around, the one holding Fred still maintaining his firm grip, and found themselves looking at three more cows a dozen paces off clad in strange clothes. 'More escaped slaves?' one asked in surprised.

'No' the cow who had spoken before replied flatly. 'Now let go of the woman as I instructed or we'll use less pleasant means than a polite request to force your compliance' it said.

The deathwok demons laughed, threats from a cow how amusing. 'Do your worst cow' one taunted it.

Wesley sighed, raised his rifle and shot the demon right between the eyes, the supersonic hollow-point bullet expanding nicely as it went through and blowing the demons brains out of the back of its head along with a good quantity of skull.

The other two deathwok demons looked down at their fallen comrade in shock. 'Witchcraft' one exclaimed.

'No but if you want to see witchcraft we've got that covered too' Amy told it.

'Just let the girl go' Faith advised, aiming her crossbow as Wesley worked the bolt on his rifle to chamber another round.

'I can snap this cow's neck like a twig' the deathwok holding Fred declared, putting one hand around her throat and putting her between itself and the other three cows and their evil magic.

'But she's not really tall or wide enough to hide behind' Wesley replied evenly before pulling the trigger once again.

The third deathwok turned to flee as soon as the one which had been holding the cow fell dead to the metal and wood weapon that made so much noise but it almost immediately caught a crossbow bolt in the rump that felled it before it travelled another three paces. 'Are there vampires here because if so do I have to stake them in the ass?' Faith wondered, leaning her empty crossbow back against her shoulder.

'Yes, but they're called Van-Tal here, they look more demonic and they're stronger I believe' Wesley replied. 'Excuse me miss but are you Winifred Burkle?' he asked the girl in sackcloth and rags.

'You're not real, you're not real' Fred responded and ran back to the cave entrance, practically diving inside.

Amy and Faith looked at each other. 'Okay, looks like the skinny chick from Texas has gone loco' Faith decided.

'I probably should have considered the possibility' Wesley said to himself, loud enough for Amy and faith to hear. 'Wait up here I'm going to go get her' he told them, putting down the rifle and then taking off his backpack.

'Might want to make it quick Wes' Faith advised as Wesley walked over to where Fred had disappeared into the ground. 'The sound of those shots would have carried' she warned as he found the cave entrance and made his way inside, ducking down to fit.

Eyes quickly adjusting to the dark inside Wesley found Fred scratching equations into the wall of her cave. 'Can't be real, only this is real' she said to herself. 'Don't get your hopes up Fred, the handsome man didn't really save you from the monsters.'

'You are Winifred Burkle aren't you?' Wesley asked patiently. 'I saw a photograph of you on a missing poster at the university' he continued. 'Now I realise this is probably a little much for you to take in right now but I'm here to bring you back home to Earth' he said.

Fred laughed, a shrill hysterical laugh. 'A dream, a dream' she said, still writing her equations on the cave wall. 'Just seeing things and hearing things that aren't there.'

Wesley frowned. 'I assure you Ms. Burkle that I am neither a visual or aural hallucination' he responded.

'That's what all the visual and aural hallucinations say' Fred replied, giggling.

'Look I'm very sorry about this but we really are wasting time' Wesley said apologetically before approaching her and pinching her on the arm.

'Ouch' Fred cried out, rubbing at her arm. 'That hurt' she protested before her jaw dropped. 'That _hurt_' she exclaimed before reaching out to poke Wesley in the chest with her finger. 'You're really real!'

'Yes' Wesley confirmed. 'And now we've established that can we please get out of here?' he requested.

Fred poked him again to make sure, harder this time. 'If you're real then how did you get here?' she asked suspiciously.

'Via an inter-dimensional portal along with my two friends you saw up there' Wesley replied.

'Ha!' Fred said loudly. 'Now I know you're just a lying hallucination because everyone knows that people only arrive here in portals on their own' she said triumphantly. 'I already worked out why over there' she said pointing to another equation she had formulated months before.

'Unless they're enclosed together protected inside an iron container' Wesley replied. 'In this case we drove through in a car' he explained.

Fred pursed her lips. 'That might work' she conceded before poking him yet again to make _absolutely_ sure he was there, harder this time. 'Why do you talk funny?' she asked.

'I don't, I'm English, everyone _else_ talks funny' Wesley defended his Received Pronunciation upper-middle-class accent. 'Please Ms. Burkle, tempus fugit' he implored her.

'Time flies' Fred translated from the latin.

'Technically it's more accurately translated as "time flees" and fleeing from the scene is what we should really be doing right now' Wesley told her. 'Plenty of time to talk when we're away from here and heading towards the castle' he said.

Fred shook her head. 'Oh no you don't want to go _there_' she advised. 'Bad things happen there' she warned him. 'They've got dungeons' she said, 'no dragons though' she added, giggling again before frowning 'At least I don't _think_ they've got dragons.'

'We're going to steal the Pylean crown jewels and some books' Wesley explained. 'And if the possibility presents itself I'm going to destroy the machine that controls those collars' he added, indicating her own.

'You are?' Fred asked. 'So are you a hero?' she asked. 'No I guess not if you're going to steal the crown jewels' she reasoned.

'I'm a _practical_ hero who needs more money for gadgets' Wesley told her. Reaching out his hand and deploying his collapsible sword to show her before retracting it.

'Cool' Fred said, taking hold of his wrist to get a closer look at the device on his arm, she appreciated a good gadget. 'So have you got a secret lair in a cave?' she asked. 'Is it nicer than _my_ cave?' she wondered.

'Oddly enough I _do_ have a cave under my house but it lacks the rustic charm of yours and the only thing it was ever a lair to was a snake demon' Wesley replied.

'Wes, are you going to be long?' Faith yelled into the cave.

'Be right there Faith' Wesley called back. 'Can we be going now Winifred?' he asked hopefully. 'I _can_ call you Winifred can't I?' he checked politely.

Fred laughed. 'Everyone calls me Fred' she replied.

'Very charming' Wesley replied with a smile. 'My name is Wesley but most people call me Wes these days' he told her. 'Can we _please_ leave now?' he pleaded.

'I'll get my handbag, a girl shouldn't go anywhere without her handbag' Fred replied, dashing over to where her canvas bag was resting and picking it up. 'Does my hair look okay to go out?' she checked, running her fingers through it.

'It looks positively fetching' Wesley told her. 'Ladies first' he bade her leave the cave first.

'What a gentleman' Fred said, beaming at him. If this was a delusion it was at least a very nice one.

'Don't make me come down there Wes' Faith threatened from the cave entrance.

'Please excuse my companions though, particularly that one' Wesley requested of Fred as she reached Faith and was helped outside.

Wesley looked around the cave then with nobody to watch he broke out into a grin and did a funky little dance of joy, badly.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

_The various demon clans on Pylea use hellhounds as hunting dogs. They keep their human slaves or "cows" in line by fitting them with metal control collars which can produce pain or even death. Fred learned how to de-activate her own which is how she was able to escape to the forest and find the cave she lived in._

_The Covenant of Trombli are the ruling cast of priests on Pylea that are loyal to the Wolf, Ram and Hart. They live in the castle-like Royal Palace where their sacred books and the crown jewels are to be found._

_Human slaves are ritually killed on Pylea with a crebbil axe during the Bach-nal ceremony. After which they are eaten (not that Fred would represent much of a meal). Law is enforced by constables like Narwek and control maintained thanks to theImperial Guard._


	18. Chapter 18

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

* * *

**Castle of the Covenant – Pylea – May 23rd 1999**

The seat of government and power on Pylea sat atop a hill overlooking a small village but despite looking impressive and intimidating to the casual observer it wasn't nearly as formidable in reality. More a symbolic fortress than an actual one the castle did at least boast high walls, and the guards posted out front were certain to intimidate visitors, but a lack of well-armed or organised opposition had led to the preparedness of the castle to resist an assault or incursion being lamentable.

With the human rebels in this region only generously described as a poorly led, badly equipped rabble, the nearest Van-Tal all the way over in the Scum Pits of Ur and the Drokken Beasts near hunted to extinction it wasn't too surprising that the Imperial Guard and the castle garrison in particularly was woefully under-strength. But their training and professionalism was highly suspect too and they were all too easily prone to fall for a diversion.

Whilst the front of the castle was moderately well-lit, with rows of torches lining the track down to the village itself, the other side of the citadel was just as vulnerable to attack as Wesley remembered it to be from his last visit to Pylea. Allowing trees and bushes to grow so close to the castle that you could approach it unseen from the battlements above was just sloppy, and with only occasional patrols walking the outside perimeter it wasn't much of a chore come night-fall to approach the rear wall of the castle.

Still not entirely sure if this was a dream, or if not whether she had totally lost her grip on reality and it was merely an extremely detailed delusion, Fred had nonetheless followed Wesley, the man with the English accent, and the girl from Boston as they sneaked up on the castle. Years of hard-won experience at not being seen or heard when she didn't want to be meant that of the three of them Fred was actually the most stealthy, although not by much as the Boston girl, Faith, moved through the trees and undergrowth almost like a predator silently stalking her prey. For his part Wesley wasn't too noisy but if anyone was going to give them away it was going to be him Fred decided as another twig snapped beneath his feet, still at least he wasn't as clumsy as the Imperial Guard patrols Fred had evaded numerous times and he seemed like he knew what he was doing overall.

They had observed the castle from a distance for most of the day, waiting for the twin suns to set before trying to get inside, and while he monitored the comings and goings of the garrison Wesley had sketched together a plan which although simple did at least sound like it had a plausible chance of success.

Less than an hour after sunset the lights from the village started to die away as the demons residing there finished their evening meals and began to go to bed. Only the tavern frequented by hard-drinking deathwok or off-duty members of the Imperial Guard still generated much noise this late and after a few more flagons of flip liquor they would be staggering home as well or at least they would be if this was an ordinary night on Pylea which it wasn't.

Fred hadn't known exactly what kind of distraction the blond girl Amy was going to provide when they left her hiding near the village earlier and had offered to stay with her if she was scared to be alone but Amy had seemed far more excited than she was apprehensive.

Wesley checked his watch, the luminous green dial and hands just visible in the darkness. He had synchronised it with Amy's own and as long as the girl had kept her eye on the ball then this hell dimension should become a great deal more hellish right about...

'Now' Wesley whispered to himself, smiling as a ball of fire arced up from somewhere near the village and then crashed down on the roof of one of the houses and exploding, setting wood and thatch ablaze.

A second fireball then a third crashed down upon more buildings including the tavern.

'Move Amy' Faith willed her friend as the village started to burn, if one of the demons had seen what had happened they might soon be investigating where the fireballs had come from. True Amy had a back-up plan if it looked like she might be discovered, a simple glamour to make herself look like one of the Deathwok demons they had killed before should be very effective, especially amidst the darkness and confusion, but it was better not to be seen at all. What with the flames it should be easy for Amy to skirt the village and get closer to the castle waiting to come join the others once they were inside.

As the demon inhabitants of the village ran out of their dwellings yelling and screaming, with several calling for water with which to fight the fire and others simply running around with no purpose at all, Wesley waited a few more seconds for the guards atop the battlements to be distracted and looking the wrong way then he and Faith left their place of concealment and ran to the wall.

One of the questions Fred had been wanting to ask was how exactly they intended to scale the walls without a rope but later on she had to admit that the surprise method was gratifyingly gadgety as both Wesley and Faith raised their right arms, aimed them at the top of the wall, and fired grappling hooks connected to wires on their wrists. A split-second later some powerful mechanism fitted to the devices pulled them upwards and before Fred could do much more than clamp a hand over her mouth to stop herself saying "Cool" out loud they had disappeared from sight.

Fred had been left with Wesley's rifle as well as their bags and she now gripped onto it hard. At least he hadn't left her there with no means of defending herself and he promised to be back for her as soon as he could, telling her to wait near the heavy oak door which was the castle's rear entrance.

Up above, Faith figured Wesley must have really been paying attention while they scoped out the castle earlier because once on the roof he seemed to know exactly where to go, almost like he had done this before. Maybe it was because he was English and had spent a lot of time in castles or something she pondered, following him around the top of the walls towards the front of the building where the guards were likely now congregated watching the village burn.

The bucket-like helmets worn by the Imperial Guard offered good protection but they also severely restricted peripheral vision and made it more difficult to hear. Sneaking up on somebody wearing one was therefore made a much easier task than it would have been otherwise and as the two garrison troops who should have been walking the walls stood watching the flames instead Faith grabbed hold of the first and using the helmet as a hand-hold used slayer-strength to viciously break his neck. The other guard was either more or less fortunate depending on the long-term outcome because Wesley injected him in the neck with a syringe full of ketamine, phenobarbitol and an overdose of orpheus that would keep the guard unconscious for hours, or conceivably leave him in a permanent coma.

As the two guards slumped to the ground Faith watched Wesley carefully cap the needle on his syringe before putting it away in his pocket. 'Nice junk, so who's your dealer?' she asked, keeping her voice low.

'Just someone I know in Los Angeles' Wesley replied, declining to give any further details.

'Still think it would have been funnier to throw them both off the roof' Faith opined, looking down at the guardsmen.

'I agree but it would have been likely to attract more attention' Wesley replied. 'Shall we pay a visit downstairs?' he asked. 'Introduce ourselves.'

'Be rude not to' Faith replied in the affirmative, taking a sword from the guard she had killed as Wesley racked a shotgun shell into his pump-action.

Marelda was a human serving girl who had long resided in the castle. Normally at this time of night she would be asleep in her quarters, and indeed had been until Kaldar one of the older castle servants had pounded on her door to say that the priests were awake and she was needed to provide refreshments, but now she was catering to the whims of her masters as she had for as long as she could remember.

Balancing several mugs of crug-grain beer and a bowl of kalla berries on a silver tray Marelda was carefully making her way from the kitchens to the room from where the priests were watching the fires raging in the village. Being a cow slave on Pylea was not a great life and rarely a long one, if she spilled anything, or worse broke any of the mugs, she would be beaten severely but conversely if she took too long to get there she would also be beaten so it wasn't surprising that mind fixed on her task she initially hurried past the two oddly-dressed strangers who tried to ask her a question.

'Excuse me' Wesley flagged down the passing slave who did stop. 'Could you tell me where I could find Silas the Chief Priest and the other Covenant Clergy who live here?' he asked politely.

'Master Silas and the others are in the upper gallery overlooking the Great Hall' Marelda replied, it had the largest windows facing the direction of the village 'second door on the right' she continued helpfully before stopping to take a proper look at the strangers. 'Who are you?' she asked suspiciously. 'You're armed!' she exclaimed noticing Faith's sword and crossbow for the first time.

'Shush' Wesley responded, putting one finger across his lips.

'Rebels' Marelda said in horror. 'I should alert the guard.'

'No you bloody shouldn't' Wesley replied curtly. 'Just wait there for a second' he told her. 'If she tries to yell out or run knock her out' he instructed Faith.

'No problem' Faith replied. 'So I think you're about to need a new boss' she informed the slave as Wesley reached the door Marelda had indicated and turning the latch with his free left hand gently pushed it open. 'Good evening gentlemen' he said, an evil grin appearing on his face as he brought up his shotgun.

'What is the meaning of this, cow scum?' an indignant voice asked loudly as Wesley stepped into the room and out-of-sight for Marelda and Faith.

A very loud boom shocked Marelda enough that she jumped and dropped the tray. It was then followed by several more and a considerable amount of yelling and screaming before the stranger walked back out of the upper-gallery into the corridor. 'To quote Diderot, man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest' he said with obvious satisfaction, beginning to reload his shotgun from the bandolier looped over his shoulder.

Marelda nervously approached the opened doorway and looked inside. The Priests of the Covenant including Silas himself were strewn across the floor, their robes bloody and some with visibly horrific injuries. 'Witchcraft!' she cried out.

'It's a Mossberg 500 actually' Wesley corrected her.

'Okay, so where's the loot?' Faith asked the slave who was now staring at Wesley wide-eyed.

'Loot?' Marelda responded in confusion.

'The crown jewels, the gold and stuff' Faith explained impatiently.

'Time for that later Faith' Wesley interrupted. 'First we need to kill every demon in this castle and then let Ms. Burkle inside.'

'Yeah, I suppose so' Faith replied reluctantly. 'I'll start with that guy' she said, spotting a member of the Imperial Guard who had just come to see what all the commotion was about.

Even outside the castle Winifred Burkle had heard the shotgun go off several times in quick succession and then more times periodically after that over the next ten minutes. Hoping that everything was going according to plan she continued to hide until eventually the heavy wooden door of the castle's rear entrance swung open and she saw a blood-splattered Faith standing there, back-lit by a burning torch inside. 'You out here Tex?' Faith queried.

'I'm here, I'm here' Fred responded quickly, grabbing the bags before jumping up and running towards her. 'Are you okay?' she asked.

'Not my blood' Faith replied with a shrug. 'Get in here so we can lock the door again' she said. 'Wes and I already took out the guards at the front gate and bolted it shut' she continued. 'I think he wants his rifle back.'

'Oh. Why?' Fred responded quizzically hurriedly entering the castle so Faith could bar the door shut again.

'Because we took a look and the fires are dying out in the village so a lot of demons could be coming our way soon' Faith explained. 'If they do Wes is going to take pot-shots at them from up on the wall until they take the hint' she said. 'We've locked up the slaves for now because Wes isn't sure how much we can trust them, one was a real Uncle Tom and tried to stop me killing a guard, I had to KO the son-of-a-bitch.'

'Yeah, I met some slaves who were broken in that much' Fred recalled sadly. 'What about the other girl, Amy?' she queried.

'Already in here' Faith told her. 'Once the guards stationed out front came inside to see what the hell was going on, what with Wesley firing his twelve-gauge, she just walked right up and waited for us to call her in.'

Fred looked thoughtful. 'So now what?' she asked.

'Now we spend the rest of the night deciding what's worth taking with us' Faith explained brightly. 'If you can believe this Wes want to take some freaking books he said he saw' she added incredulously.

'I like books too' Fred told her, smiling.

'Me, I prefer the stuff we can fence back home for the big bucks' Faith replied. 'Come on let's go find Wes and give him his rifle' she said, leading off deeper into the castle.

'He's real good at plans isn't he?' Fred observed.

'Yeah' Faith agreed. It had worked so well it was almost like Wesley had done this before she thought to herself again.

'Did you kill the priests?' Fred wanted to know as they reached the end of one passageway and took another, Faith partially tracing her route from the dead bodies she had left behind. Most of the demons had been unarmed and had barely put up a fight, only the handful of Imperial Guard she had encountered and a couple of the red-horned Deathwoks had made Faith work for the win. There was a lot to be said for the element of surprise, not only that human "rebels" had somehow infiltrated the castle but also that the cow female with a sword was much stronger and skilled with the weapon than they could have ever imagined.

Faith nodded. 'First guys that Wes took out' she confirmed.

'The Imperial Guard and the rest of the Covenant won't like that' Fred warned. 'I'm okay with it though' she added happily as Faith tore a small tapestry from a wall and used it like a towel to wipe off some of the blood she had on her.

After meeting Wesley and handing over the rifle which he took then headed upstairs with all too much of a spring in his step they then found Amy in what seemed to be some kind of throne room. According to Fred it had been kept ready for the prophesised return of the monarchy even though Pylea had been without a royal family for centuries and if the gold and silver plates and goblets scattered around were any indication as to how much the crown jewels themselves were worth then this was looking like an even more profitable excursion than Faith and Amy had been hoping for.

Amy sprawled herself on the throne. 'Summon my court jester, I feel the need to be entertained' she declared.

'Food!' Fred exclaimed, heading for a table laden with the finest local fruits, nuts and berries and beginning to stuff her mouth with them.

'Didn't she finish off every chocolate bar we had with us a couple of hours ago and that was after we ate dinner?' Amy asked Faith.

'Quick metabolism' Fred explained between bites. 'Never enough to eat here.'

Faith looked Fred up and down. 'We need to get some cheeseburgers into this girl' she decided. Amy nodding her agreement.

Fred swallowed. 'I'd prefer a huge plate of tacos' she said. 'Or an enchilada platter' she added, almost drooling at the thought.

Up on the castle wall Wesley was looking down on the torch-lined track that led up from the village. With the fires finally out and a semblance of order returning a few of the villagers and the off-duty Imperial Guardsmen who had been in the tavern were starting to wonder why nobody had come from the castle to help and some of them were now making their way up the track to investigate.

Shouldering his rifle Wesley worked the bolt to chamber a round and took aim at one of the Imperial Guard waiting until he was nicely silhouetted by a torch behind him. The chain-mail the demon soldier was wearing was about as much use against a high-powered rifle as one of the baggy shirts or leather jerkins most of his civilian companions had on so Wesley aimed at the centre of his chest for the best chance to hit and squeezed the trigger.

The demon staggered back like it had been hit in the chest then collapsed, the supersonic bullet arriving before the report of the rifle.

Never having been shot at with a firearm before the demons initially acted confused but they soon realised when a second covenant guardsman was hit by something moving too fast to see that foul play and likely dark magics were afoot.

With the third shot one of the demons spotted the muzzle-flash of Wesley's rifle up on the castle wall and realised that it must be connected to what was happening when a Gathwok who had been holding a scythe fell down screaming in pain and clutching at a bloody hole in its stomach. 'Would you all just please bugger off now' Wesley said to himself as he worked the bolt on his rifle again.

Made of sterner stuff than the Gathwoks, or indeed a couple of the Imperial Guard themselves who were still more than a little drunk as well as bewildered by the situation, a trio of warriors from the Deathwok Clan started running up the track towards the castle yelling battle cries. What exactly they expected to do when they reached the closed front gates Wesley could only guess at but he winged the first one with a round just of centre which slowed it down drastically and then hit the second demon square in the chest with his next bullet.

Built tough the second Deathwok still managed to go another twenty yards before falling to it's knees, lungs filling with blood. Wesley hoped it wasn't one of Lorne's relatives as he reloaded his rifle having expended the five shots it carried.

The third Deathwok nearly reached the gates before Wesley could fire again but this time it was close enough to try for a deliberately non-lethal hit and the watcher got it in the right leg felling it though the demon fought back the pain enough not to yell out.

'The Covenant of Trombli are defeated, the priests are all dead' Wesley called down to the wounded demon. 'Go away or I'll kill you all' he ordered just as the other Deathwok with the hole in his side arrived, himself starting to cough up blood.

'Who are you to give such orders?' one of the Deathwok's replied.

'I'm your worst nightmare' Wesley shouted back. 'I'm a human with a gun' he told them, taking aim at another of the Imperial Guard who had begun following the Deathwoks up the track and blowing a hole through him.

'Evil sorcery' the demon with the wounded leg hissed.

'Technology' Wesley corrected it. 'But it amounts to the same thing' he continued. 'I can kill you and you can't get close enough to kill me' he said. 'Especially not from down there' he added. 'Now I'll let you limp back to the village to get some medical attention but from now on anyone that gets within two hundred paces of the castle will be killed.'

'No matter how mighty an evil weapon you possess you cannot watch every direction at once cow' the deathwok replied.

'He ain't alone numb-nuts' Faith called down from an open window in the throne room above.

'Yeah there's loads of us' Amy chipped in from another.

'Dozens, and we've got plenty of guns' Fred agreed, joining Amy at her window.

One of the wounded Deathwoks looked to the other. 'Flehegna dung' he swore. There must be a veritable herd of cow rebels in there and what if they _did_possess more of the evil magics?

Pulling her head back inside the room Fred turned towards Faith. 'So how are we going to get back out of here once we've got the treasure?' she asked.

Faith opened her mouth to reply then closed it again, frowning. 'Don't know, Wes never said' she admitted. 'But I bet he's got a plan' she added confidently.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

___Despite the garrison of the castle being on high-alert and being doubled from the normal level in AtS episode 2:22 There's no place like Plrtz Glrb Wesley still managed to use a diversion to draw away the Imperial Guard and break in by scaling the rear walls. If they're not expecting trouble at all it should be much easier._

_Silas was the Chief Priest of the Covenant of Trombli, Marelda and Kaldar two of the castle slaves._


	19. Chapter 19

_Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me._

* * *

**Castle of the Covenant – Pylea – May 24th 1999**

By the time Constable Narwek arrived from the next village, having being summoned by a dispatch rider, the villagers had already surrounded the castle to prevent any escape by the rebel cows. Taking charge he sent other riders to seek out any Imperial Guard patrols that might be nearby, calling on their immediate return to the capital, and he then more reluctantly sent a messenger on one of the swiftest horses to the Scumpits of Ur ordering the half-breed Groosalug to come with all haste.

By the time the twin suns had risen high enough in the sky to glint off the stained glass windows of the castle the first unit of Imperial Guardsmen to be located had already arrived to reinforce the various village clans standing watch. Not long after one of the priests who had not been in the castle appeared on horseback himself and with the authority of the clergy took charge of the situation from Narwek, though keeping the constable to hand for counsel and advice.

Though initially horrified by the news passed on by Narwek that Silas and the others had apparently been killed it soon dawned on Barshon the Covenant Priest that by default he had therefore inherited the mantle of Chief Priest from Silas and had also become the de-facto ruler of Pylea.

Resolving not to let this priceless opportunity slip by Barshon knew he had to act decisively and entrench his position by crushing this insurrection. He ordered the Imperial Guard to begin making plans to storm the castle and then waited for enough reinforcements to get here in order to bring overwhelming force to bear. From the sounds of it these cows had powerful sorcery at their command, and losses to the Guard when they attacked would likely be severe, but the future of Pylean society was at stake after all.

Narwek stood beside Barshon and nodded his agreement when the priest rallied the people, telling them of what would happen if the cows were not defeated and crushed. All over this world the slaves would begin to rise-up seeking to slaughter their betters and overturn the natural order of things. It was self-evident truth that the demon clans of Pylea were superior to the humans in their midst, that the cows were nothing but a slave race, but today the future was in jeopardy and if the villagers and the guardsmen cared at all for their spawn and their spawn's spawn they must take back the castle regardless of casualties.

The warriors of the Deathwok Clan were always spoiling for a fight anyway so Barshon was unsurprised at their willingness to support the Imperial Guard in the attack once it was ordered but even the less aggressive but more industrious Gathwoks got caught up in the fervour and were starting to construct a large battering ram along with siege-ladders with which to scale the walls.

'The castle gates open' someone called out and Barshon and Narwek turned to look, finding it was true.  
'I think they want to talk' Narwek suggested.

'Take two of the Imperial Guard and go find out what they want' Barshon ordered.

'Surely we aren't going to negotiate Sire' Narwek responded in surprise.

'Don't be stupid Constable, I merely want to know if they want to surrender' Barshon replied. 'If they do then we'll know if they are weaker than we thought.'

'What if they beg mercy and request clemency?' Narwek queried.

Barshon smirked. 'They need to be made an example of' he replied. 'There will be no clemency' he continued. 'The krebbil is too quick, I want them burned alive at the stake' he ordered. 'Just not so much that it ruins the victory feast' he added, thinking about it.

'Of course' Narwek responded, nodding his understanding. He preferred his meat medium-rare rather than well-done too.

Somewhat to Faith's surprise Wesley had trusted Fred with his rifle and it was now her that was up on the castle walls keeping an eye out for trouble. True the skinny chick seemed to know how to handle the rifle, with that skill probably being a Texas thing Faith reasoned since it was a state full of gun-nuts, but she wasn't exactly all-there.

While some of the castle slaves seemed still loyal to their masters others had celebrated their deaths convincingly enough for Wesley to release them and put them on watch. One in particular named Markallo had been one of the most trusted servants of the priesthood but he also claimed to have been a spy, passing information onto the human rebels hiding in the forests, and he sought to prove this by telling Wesley what he knew of the slave collars and the Covenant device that could be used to inflict pain or death on everyone wearing one.

Now carrying a crossbow taken from one of the fallen Imperial Guard, and with a sword hanging by his side, Markallo stood next to Wesley as Narwek and his escort approached the castle and hoped he didn't look nervous. 'Well that explains how the rebel slaves seemed to know so much' Narwek observed, sneering at Markallo.

'And I was right under your nose all the time Narwek' Markallo found himself with the courage to reply. 'Good work Constable' he said sarcastically.

'Silence cow-scum' Narwek snarled back.

'I think you hit a raw nerve there' Wesley observed with a chuckle. 'Regardless, we're not here to discuss your ineptitude as a policeman but rather to negotiate surrender terms' he told Narwek.

The deathwok smirked. 'Who says we want to accept your surrender?' he responded.

Wesley looked puzzled for a moment. '_Our_ surrender?' he eventually replied, bemused. 'No I meant _you_ surrendering to _us_' he informed Narwek seriously.

Narwek stared at the strangely-clad human for a moment. 'Are you mad?' he asked. 'We have the castle completely surrounded and more of the Imperial Guard arrive every hour' he noted.

'We have weapons and magicks that can defeat an army far greater in number than you possess' Wesley stated.

'I have heard of some sorcery that allows you to kill at a great distance but I doubt it powerful enough to defeat a force as large as we command, cow' Narwek responded dismissively.

'You're underestimating our firepower but in any case guns aren't the only weapon in our arsenal' Wesley replied. 'UNLEASH THE BOOMBOX' he thundered, trying heroically to keep a straight face.

A horrible cacophonous wail of deafening volume which caused excruciating pain suddenly assailed Narweks ears from inside the castle and caused him and the two guardsmen to collapse to the ground. It seemed to go on forever but when it eventually stopped Narwek looked up to see that the two cows were still standing there unharmed. 'What evil is this?' Narwek gasped.

'That was but merely a taste of the awesome power at our disposal' Wesley declared. 'Much longer and the spirit of the Boombox would have melted your brains and brought them gushing from your ears' he warned the demons. 'Be grateful we keep it under control for that was but only the fifth level of it's power and unlike it's normal brethren which merely achieve the tenth level our Boombox...' he paused for effect, '_goes up to eleven_!' he exclaimed, throwing one hand into the air, fingers held claw-like they were holding something in the hammiest piece of acting he had performed since playing Richard III at school.

'The cows were not injured by the spirit' one of the Imperial Guardsmen realised, slowly getting up from the ground.

'They must have cast a protective spell upon themselves or else have the spirit so entirely under control so that it only attacks their enemies' the other guardsman decided, his own voice trembling in fear as he rose himself and aided Narwek in doing likewise.

Wesley crossed his arms. 'Any assault upon this castle will be repulsed in the same manner' he told Narwek. 'Also at the first sign of trouble we will start to execute the remaining priests' he added.

'Some of the priests yet live?' Narwek responded in surprise. 'I was told you had killed them all.'

'I lied to the Deathwok that approached the gates before' Wesley replied. 'We spared a few so we could gain information from them' he explained.

'You tortured those of the Holy Covenant?' Narwek said with a mixture of anger and dismay.

'Yes' Wesley confirmed, a vicious smile on his face. 'It yielded great knowledge and no small measure of enjoyment' he said.

'Animal' Narwek spat. 'You heretic scum will burn in the...'

'Shut up or I'll let the Boombox consume your soul' Wesley cut him off. 'I intend to send a lone rider to report to our leaders that we have taken the castle' he told Narwek. 'They'll be bringing an important hostage with them and will immediately kill him if they are molested in any way.'

'What hostage?' Narwek wanted to know.

Wesley turned back towards the castle. 'Bring him out' he commanded.

Narwek watched as a man in the robes of a covenant priest, arms bound in front of him and hood pulled down over his face stumbled out, half-dragged by a female cow. The beasts had added to their blasphemy by placing a slave collar around his neck, his robes were blood-stained and from the way he was moving he had been beaten severely.

'Show them Faith' Wesley ordered.

Still holding onto the priest with her free hand Faith pulled back the hood and revealed it to be Silas himself, gagged as well as bound. 'How dare you treat the High Priest so!' Narwek exclaimed.

'One of the other priests showed us how to fit the collar and how to work them' Wesley responded ignoring the question and producing one of the small techno-mystical remote-controls from a pocket to show Narwek. 'Each priest that remains alive is wearing a collar and we can cause them pain or death at a whim' he said. 'Drag that demon filth back inside' he told Faith who proceeded to grab hold of Silas roughly by his robes and do so.

'Your deaths will be painful beyond measure' Narwek vowed through gritted teeth, bright red eyes blazing. 'We will slaughter ten cows for every one of us you murder.'

'Most humans are nothing but obedient slaves broken to their master's bidding and would have died eventually under your tender mercies eventually anyway' Wesley replied dismissively. 'It's not like you're holding any rebels I might have cared about as bargaining chips' he continued. 'You've killed every one you've captured' he pointed out before contemptuously turning his back on the constable and the two guardsmen and re-entering the castle.

Seething with rage Narwek watched the gates slam shut once more then led the way back towards the village.

'We could capture the cow rider when they come out with Silas' one of the Imperial Guardsmen suggested.

'Likely killing Silas in the process and how could we guarantee they'd be taken alive even if we were willing to sacrifice the High Priest?' Narwek responded, thinking it likely that Barshon would be willing to let Silas die. Another thought occurred to him however. 'If they are riding to the rebel base we could send a large force to follow them out-of-sight and try to take as many rebels alive as we can' he suggested. 'We'll soon test the limits of their resolve if the crebbil falls on a cow they care for in the village square every hour until they submit.'

'A good plan' the other guardsman praised Narwek sincerely.

'Only a cow would have been stupid enough to give us such an opportunity' Narwek replied, his anger turning to a feeling of smug satisfaction. The human likely thought that having Silas with the riders rendered them completely safe but that was only because the base-creatures had no understanding of politics or true strategy. It was far better after all to risk losing the High Priest than it was to risk losing control of this entire realm.

Inside the castle Wesley turned to Faith. 'Too much?' he asked with a chuckle.

'Jeez Wes, I know you said you were going to act all "Ming the Merciless" out there in front of the bad guys but I was trying not to bust a gut when you got into it' Faith replied, grinning.

Silas held out his hands and started to mumble loudly past the gag. 'Better cut her loose' Wesley advised.

'Yeah, I guess so' Faith agreed, taking out a knife and cutting the rope binding the priest's hands before untying the gag.

'Couldn't you have found a cleaner piece of cloth to put in my mouth?' Amy protested, waving her hand in front of her face to remove the glamour making her look like Silas. 'And these robes smell' she complained, starting to pull them over her head.

'They're clean apart from the blood, I washed them myself and laid them out fresh for Silas yesterday' Markallo informed the sorceress from the other world. 'His clan just smell that way' he told her.

'Your turn' Amy told Wesley, throwing the robes to him. 'I'll apply the glamour just before you leave' she said. 'I'm not sure how long it'll last' she admitted.

'Shouldn't be a problem as long as it lasts until we're past the village' Wesley replied. 'I'll make sure they get a good look before pulling up the hood so they think it's the priest' he said.

'Are you sure this is going to work Wes?' Faith asked.

Wesley shrugged. 'They should be smart enough to realise they'd be better off following us to where they think we're going rather than attack us right away' he replied. 'If not then I'll have my pump-action, my forty-fives and the element of surprise because they won't be expecting the chap in the robes to be the enemy.'

'And a witch' Amy added. 'You'll have a witch' she noted.

Markallo felt like he had been suddenly swept up in either a dream or perhaps a nightmare but he had long supported the cause of his people and if this were truly happening he had to help the strangers as best he could. 'Marelda is choosing two fine steeds from the castle stables' he told them. 'They will be fed and watered ready for a hard ride.'

'Just haul-ass back here okay' Faith requested as Wesley took off his jacket and began putting on the robes. 'They might not know how many of us there are in here but there ain't enough of us to hold the place' she noted.

'Just be ready for when we do' Wesley replied. 'All of you' he added to Markallo before handing him his jacket. 'I'll want that back later' he said. 'Just make sure they see you wearing it up on the battlements' he told him. 'Misdirection is as much the key to victory as firepower' he said.

'How can we be sure you'll return?' Markallo asked with reasonable suspicion under the circumstances.

'If I don't you can keep my slayer as well as the jacket' Wesley replied, winking at Faith. 'If it does look like they're going to attack make a show up on the wall that looks like you've executed a prisoner then pitch one of the dead priests over minus his head' he advised. 'That might give them pause for thought.'

Faith laughed. 'I still can't believe you're just making this up as you go along' she told her watcher.

'Best see if the plan actually works before you shower me with praise' Wesley advised.

Having concurred with Narwek's plan when the rebel cow had ridden out from the castle leading another horse with Silas tied to its back Barshon had given orders for them to be allowed to pass. Once they were almost out-of-sight the covenant priest then dispatched near two-thirds of his his force of Imperial Guardsmen on horseback to follow them, scouts leading and making sure not to be seen.

With the remaining cows besieged in the castle and unable to go anywhere Barshon was willing to split his forces for the chance to crush this rebellion entirely. If, as was likely, Silas was killed when the Imperial Guard attacked the rebel base where their leaders resided then that was surely his decreed fate and he would be publicly mourned when Barshon officially took his place, his power and authority confirmed by crushing the cow-scum.

Looking forward to executing the captured rebels one-by-one until the ones holding the castle surrendered and pleaded for mercy Barshon sipped at a mug of best flip-liquor and entertained himself with thoughts of the hard-line reforms he would make in order to prevent any recurrence of this situation. The cow slaves had clearly been treated with too much leniency before now, Silas was too soft by far and deserved his fate as a result, but under the new administration none of the beasts would dare to even look their betters in the eye let alone make plots, conjure dark magicks or take up weapons against their masters.

As a whole the Imperial Guard weren't the elite fighting force their exaggerated reputation purported them to be, but some of their number were highly skilled at what they did. That select group included the lead scouts who were trailing and tracking the mounted rebel cow and her prisoner.

For over six leagues of hard riding the guardsmen managed to pursue their quarry without being seen. Making sure through regular reports that the main body of troops following behind them kept up as well, even once the renegade led her hostage off the track and into the forest, the scouts were confident that when they eventually reached the enemy camp the full force would not be far behind ready to descend upon the foe like a horde of rampaging burr beasts. Vengeance would be swift and bloody with only the most important looking rebels kept alive... at least for now.

The area was only thinly forested with large gaps between the trees allowing the fast pace to continue as the horses made their way deeper into the wilderness. The Great Northern Forest stretched almost right across the continent and much remained neither properly mapped or even explored but the lead scout felt more at home out here than he ever did in the hustle and bustle of a village.

Reaching a small glade the Imperial Guard scout found himself looking at the two horses he had been tracking, both now without a rider and grazing free. The cow must have decided to walk from here he decided, though quite why was a mystery as the trees and undergrowth were still nowhere near dense enough to warrant such a decision. Still on the plus side the human on foot dragging an undoubtedly uncooperative Silas would be even easier to follow he knew.

A sound he had never heard before, one almost like the growl of a great angry beast, suddenly roared in the clearing, spooking the two untethered horses into bolting away and causing the scout's own to rear up and nearly buck him off.

On the other side of the clearing the air itself seemed to shimmer and then as if an invisible cloak had been suddenly lifted that had been keeping it from sight a monster appeared from seemingly nowhere.

Inside the SUV Wesley and Amy looked out through the windshield at the Imperial Guardsman and his horse, looked at each other for a moment then Wesley grinned and put the Ford Explorer into gear. 'Get ready to turn up the CD Player would you Amy' he requested. 'We're about to ride to the rescue and we're trying to make an impression.'

Half a mile behind the scouts the Captain leading the rest of the Imperial Guard heard something in the distance shortly before one of the scouts came galloping back towards him apparently with no intention of stopping to make a report.

'Halt' the Captain ordered ineffectually as the scout passed him.

'Flee for your lives!' the scout responded, ignoring the order.

'What in the name of the Lord of the Covenant is going on?' the captain asked rhetorically before he saw what it was the scout was trying to get away from 'HOLY DROKKEN SHIT!' he cried out as something huge came hurtling out of the forest towards them with an angry roar.

Amy likely wouldn't have even needed to start playing _Living la Vida Loca_by Ricky Martin as loudly as the speakers in the SUV could manage, the mere sight and sound of the Ford Explorer was enough to terrify the guardsmen and send their horses into panic, but the song certainly added something to the experience for all concerned as Wesley weaved in and out of the trees at high speed. 'I get to choose the next song' the watcher yelled out as dozens of Imperial Guardsmen scattered in all directions, many thrown from their horses.

'They'll never catch up' Amy shouted as Wesley turned to head in the direction of the dirt track back to the village. It wasn't much of a road but it was wide enough for the SUV and they could get up to a speed no horse could match for long.

'It doesn't pay to mess with superior technology' Wesley replied, grinning as they left chaos and terror as well as the bulk of the enemies best soldiers in their wake. He quickly turned the damn CD Player off again though.

* * *

**_Note from the Author:_**

___Narwek of the Deathwok Clan was the local constable and Barshon one of the senior priests. Silas executed his slave Markallo for passing information to the rebels in AtS episode 2:22 so it's clear where the slave's loyalties lie (his people's not his masters)._

_Fred always seemed comfortable with firearms so I had Wesley give her the rifle rather than Faith or Amy, the latter have effective means of defending themselves already of course._

_Oh and of all the hit songs of early 1999 I could have chosen as a sound weapon that just seemed the funniest!_


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